Vertebral Heart Score

The Vertebral Heart Score (VHS), also called the Vertebral Heart Size or Vertebral Heart Scale, is a measurement method used in veterinary medicine to assess an animal heart size from a thoracic radiograph in a way that is independent of the animal overall body size. The technique projects the long and short axes of the heart onto the thoracic vertebrae, starting from the fourth thoracic vertebra, and counts the number of vertebrae these lengths span; it is used mainly in dogs to detect cardiomegaly, including conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy. The scoring system was established by Buchanan and Bucheler in 1995, and a VHS below about 10.5 is generally considered normal for dogs, though some breeds show higher values as a normal variant.