Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood vessel function in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
By Moesgaard, S G et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2012·Department of Basic Animal and Veterinary Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Flow-mediated vasodilation measurements in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with increasing severity of myxomatous mitral valve disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 43 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with varying levels of mitral regurgitation (a heart valve issue) showed that as the severity of their condition increased, their blood vessels had a harder time expanding properly. The dogs were divided into four groups based on how severe their heart condition was, and those with more severe symptoms had significantly lower blood flow responses. This suggests that as the heart disease worsens, it may also lead to problems with blood vessel function. Understanding this connection could help in developing future treatments for these dogs.
People also search for: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel heart disease symptoms · mitral valve disease in dogs · dog heart failure treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is associated with endothelial dysfunction in humans and studies of plasma biomarkers suggest that dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) might also have endothelial dysfunction. HYPOTHESIS: That progression of mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with development of endothelial dysfunction. ANIMALS: Forty-three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) with MR of varying severity. METHODS: Privately owned CKCS were prospectively recruited and divided in 4 groups: (1) 12 CKCS with minimal MR; (2) 9 CKCS with mild MR; (3) 11 CKCS with moderate-severe MR; and (4) 11 CKCS with moderate-severe MR and clinical signs compatible with heart failure. Dogs underwent blood sampling, echocardiography, blood pressure (BP) recordings, and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) measurements. The effect of progressive MR on FMD was determined by multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Flow-mediated vasodilation decreased with progression of MR. Group 4 (4.79 ± 3.22%) had significantly lower FMD than groups 1 (10.40 ± 4.58%) and 2 (10.14 ± 3.67%) (P < .005) and group 3 (6.79 ± 3.98%) had a significantly lower FMD than group 1 (P = .03). Increasing left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (P = .0004, R(2) = 0.27) and the combination of age (P = .01) and body weight (P = .002) (R(2) = 0.31) were significantly associated with reduced FMD. FMD did not correlate with sex, BP, or plasma markers. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Reduced FMD indicates that increased disease severity in CKCS with MMVD is associated with development of endothelial dysfunction which might be a future therapeutic and/or diagnostic target.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22151409/