Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Low blood magnesium linked to worse heart valve disease in dogs
By Kim, Ock-Kyu et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2024·Department of Veterinary Medicine, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical relevance of serum ionized magnesium concentration in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study involving 181 dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) found that dogs in advanced stages of congestive heart failure (CHF) had lower levels of ionized magnesium in their blood compared to those in earlier stages. Specifically, dogs with low magnesium levels had a significantly higher risk of death, with only 53% surviving after one year, compared to 91.5% of dogs with normal magnesium levels. This suggests that measuring magnesium levels could help veterinarians assess the severity of heart disease and predict outcomes in dogs with MMVD.
People also search for: dog heart disease symptoms · low magnesium in dogs · myxomatous mitral valve disease prognosis
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypomagnesemia is associated with a poor prognosis in humans with congestive heart failure (CHF), but studies in veterinary medicine are limited. HYPOTHESIS: Serum ionized magnesium concentration [iMg] would decrease as CHF progresses compared with the initial diagnostic levels and that lower [iMg] would be negatively associated with prognosis in dogs with CHF. ANIMALS: A total of 181 client-owned dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) were included. They were classified into the preclinical stage (NO-CHF, n = 108), stage C (n = 42), and stage D (n = 31) based on the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine MMVD classification. METHODS: This is a retrospective study from 2 referral centers. The [iMg] was compared among the NO-CHF, stage C, and stage D groups. Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test were used to compare the incidence of death between groups. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the association of hypomagnesemia with the death. RESULTS: In the stage D group, the [iMg] was lower than that in the NO-CHF (P < .0001) and stage C groups (P < .003). In the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the 1-year cumulative survival rate in hypomagnesemic dogs was 53% compared with 91.5% in normomagnesemic dogs (log-rank test, P < .0001). In the multivariable Cox analysis, lower concentration of [K] and [iMg], along with higher E, were associated with negative prognoses. Specifically, hypomagnesemia was associated with an approximately 4-fold increased risk of death (hazard ratio = 4.015; 95% confidence interval, 1.537-10.488; P = .005). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Assessing the [iMg] might serve as a potential marker for estimating the severity and prognosis indirectly in dogs with MMVD. Combining [iMg] measurement with other diagnostic methods, such as echocardiography, could improve the prognostic evaluation of MMVD in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38064361/