GASTRIC dilatation/volvulus (GDV) is a syndrome described in various species (dogs, cats, monkeys, guinea pigs and people); however, generally speaking, the term GDV refers to canine GDV (cGDV). It describes a condition where the stomach is overstretched and rotated by excessive gas content. The word ‘syndrome’ highlights the complexity of the disease, as it describes a group of clinical signs that occur together and characterise a particular condition; however, cGDV aetiology is still unknown.

Many studies define cGDV as multifactorial in origin and, while predisposing factors are well described, attempts to prevent GDV based on modifications of these factors have proven unsuccessful, including using medication, such as antacids and gastrointestinal motility modifiers. Since the thoracic depth:width ratio is one of the most important predisposing factors, it would be interesting to study offspring with different conformation of the thorax and track differences, but there is still much to be done. Also, while the association of GDV with other gastrointestinal (eg, mesenteric volvulus and inflammatory bowel disease) and splenic diseases (eg, splenic torsion and splenic neoplasia) have been described, a cause-effect relationship has yet to be identified. Studies have simply described …