Alouatta guariba is a common neotropical monkey in Brazilian fauna. A large portion of primates in captivity has died from cardiomyopathy. In our knowledge, there are few studies determining normal cardiac parameters of these animals on our continent. Some monkey species can be used as a model study for human cardiac failure and for maintenance of self-sustaining reproduction colonies. The aim of this study is to describe features of the heart in this monkey species by complementary exams. This is a partial result referent to Doppler echocardiography, radiography and electrocardiography research project on 10 monkeys, A. guariba. Until now, 4 of 10 animals, 2 male and 2 female, were evaluated. They live in the Wild Animals Medical and Research Center (CEMPAS), School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Botucatu, Brazil. After chemical restraint, the echocardiography was performed. Some heart indices, like ejection fraction (by modified Simpson's method) = 70% ± 0.10; left atrial/aortic root ratio = 1.86 ± 0.12; mitral early diastolic velocity/late diastolic velocity ratio = 2.19 ± 0.73, were observed. By these results, we can conclude that the technique to perform an echocardiography in Alouatta guariba is similar to the human. The values demonstrated a tendency to be similar to small animals, but it is still on the path in order to compare with small animals and human parameters.

Figure 1. Example of the left atrial/aortic root ratio in the right parasternal short axis approach on B-mode