Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Breathless male Dobermanns and Boxers with heart failure signs
By Martin, M W S et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2009·Veterinary Cardiorespiratory Centre·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Canine dilated cardiomyopathy: a retrospective study of signalment, presentation and clinical findings in 369 cases.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 369 dogs, mostly pure-bred Dobermanns and Boxers, were diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a serious heart condition. Common symptoms included breathlessness and coughing, with many dogs showing signs of heart failure within just three weeks before being taken to the vet. Most of these dogs had irregular heartbeats and signs of fluid in the lungs on X-rays. Unfortunately, the average survival time after diagnosis was only 19 weeks, highlighting the need for early detection and awareness of this condition in larger breeds.
People also search for: dog coughing and breathing problems · dilated cardiomyopathy in Dobermanns · heart failure symptoms in Boxers
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical and diagnostic findings and survival of dilated cardiomyopathy from a large population of dogs in England. METHODS: A retrospective study of the case records of dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy collected between January 1993 and May 2006. RESULTS: There were 369 dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy of which all were pure-bred dogs except for four. The most commonly affected breeds were dobermanns and boxers. Over 95 per cent of dogs weighed more than 15 kg and 73 per cent were male. The median duration of signs before referral was three weeks with 65 per cent presenting in stage 3 heart failure. The most common signs were breathlessness (67 per cent) and coughing (64 per cent). The majority of dogs (89 per cent) had an arrhythmia at presentation and 74 per cent of dogs had radiographic signs of pulmonary oedema or pleural effusion. The median survival time was 19 weeks. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Dilated cardiomyopathy occurs primarily in medium to large breed pure-bred dogs, and males are more frequently affected than females. The duration of clinical signs before referral is often short and the survival times are poor. Greater awareness of affected breeds, clinical signs and diagnostic findings may help in early recognition of this disease which often has a short clinical phase.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19037887/