Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How heart medicines affect heart rate in dogs with mitral valve
By Pirintr, Prapawadee et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2023·Department of Veterinary Biosciences and Veterinary Public Health·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Impact of a combination of pimobendan, furosemide, and enalapril on heart rate variability in naturally occurring, symptomatic, myxomatous mitral valve degeneration dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 17 dogs with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD), a heart condition, were treated with a combination of pimobendan, furosemide, and enalapril to see how it affected their heart health. Before starting treatment and at 1, 3, and 6 months later, the dogs underwent tests to measure heart rate variability and other heart functions. The results showed that this combination therapy improved heart rate variability, suggesting it helped balance the nervous system's control over the heart. Overall, the treatment appeared beneficial for these dogs with advanced heart disease.
People also search for: dog heart disease treatment · MMVD in dogs · pimobendan for dogs heart problems
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pimobendan, diuretics, and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) are widely used for the management of chronic valvular heart disease in dogs; however, the effects of that combination on heart rate variability (HRV) are unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the HRV of symptomatic myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD) dogs in response to therapy with a combination of pimobendan, diuretics, and ACEi. RESULTS: MMVD stage C (n = 17) dogs were enrolled and a 1-hour Holter recording together with echocardiography, blood pressure measurement, and blood chemistry profiles were obtained before and 1, 3, and 6 months after oral treatment with pimobendan (0.25 mg/kg), enalapril (0.5 mg/kg), and furosemide (2 mg/kg) twice daily. The results revealed that MMVD stage C dogs at the baseline had lower values of time-domain indices, low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and total power, as well as higher value of LF/HF. Triple therapy significantly increases these parameters in MMVD stage C dogs (P < 0.05). A positive moderate correlation was observed between time domain parameters and a left ventricular internal diastole diameter normalized to body weight (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that MMVD stage C dogs possess low HRV due to either the withdrawal of parasympathetic tone or enhanced sympathetic activation, and a combination therapy was shown to enhance cardiac autonomic modulation inferred from the increased heart rate variability. Therefore, a combination therapy may be useful for restoring normal autonomic nervous system activity in dogs with MMVD stage C.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37821927/