Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Survival times for boxer dogs with right heart arrhythmia
By Caro-Vadillo, A et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2013·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in boxer dogs: a retrospective study of survival.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 62 Boxer dogs diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a heart condition, were studied to understand their survival rates. The findings showed that younger dogs had a better chance of living longer compared to older ones, and those who experienced fainting episodes (syncope) had a significantly shorter lifespan. The average survival time for dogs without fainting was about 693 days, while those with fainting lived around 365 days. Different treatments did not significantly affect survival times, but dogs treated with procainamide had the longest average survival.
People also search for: Boxer dog heart problems · arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy treatment · Boxer dog fainting episodes · survival rates for Boxer dogs with ARVC
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate survival in a population of 62 boxer dogs with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), without left ventricular systolic failure, based on the following factors: age at diagnosis, presence of syncopal episodes, Holter arrhythmia classification and administered treatment. Medical records of boxer dogs with a diagnosis of ARVC between 2000 and 2010 were reviewed. Results showed that median survival time (MST) was longer in younger ARVC dogs than in the older ones P<0.001). MST was statistically different (P=0.012) between dogs with syncope (365 days) and dogs without syncope episodes (693 days), the probability of death within a year being 4.8 times greater in dogs with syncope (95% CI 1.48 to 15.99) than in dogs without syncope. Regarding Holter classification results, MST was 547.5 days in Holter class-2 dogs and 365 days in Holter class-4 dogs (P=0.030). There were no differences regarding treatment options; MST was 365 days (95% CI 193.615 to 536.4) in the sotalol group, 365 days (95% CI 92.86 to 637.14) in the mexiletine plus atenolol group, and 547.50 days (95% CI 170.45 to 924.55) in the procainamide group (P=0.383). According to this study, the best prognosis is for the younger boxer dog without syncope. There were no differences in survival times in relation to the different treatment options used.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23315769/