Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term heart rhythm changes in dogs with atrioventricular block
By Santilli, R A et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2016·Clinica Veterinaria Malpensa, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Long-term Intrinsic Rhythm Evaluation in Dogs with Atrioventricular Block.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with a severe heart condition called third-degree atrioventricular block (AVB), which can cause serious heart rhythm issues. The dog received a pacemaker to help regulate its heartbeat. After monitoring the dog's heart rhythm over several months, it was found that while some dogs showed improvement, others either stayed the same or got worse. In this case, the dog's condition remained stable after the pacemaker was implanted, but the study suggests that heart conditions in dogs can change over time, so ongoing monitoring is important.
People also search for: dog heart block treatment · Golden Retriever pacemaker · dog heart rhythm problems
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Atrioventricular block (AVB) is a conduction abnormality along the atrioventricular node that, depending on etiology, may lead to different outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate variations of intrinsic rhythm (IR) in dogs that underwent pacemaker implantation (PMI). ANIMALS: Medical records of 92 dogs affected by 3rd degree atrioventricular block (3AVB), advanced 2nd degree AVB (2AVB), paroxysmal 3AVB, 2:1 2AVB, or 3AVB with atrial fibrillation (AF) were retrospectively reviewed. METHOD: The patient IR was documented with telemetry on the day of 1--(95% CI, 1-2), 33--(95% CI, 28-35), 105--(95%CI, 98-156), and 275 days (95%CI, 221-380) after PMI. According to AVB grade at different examinations, AVB was defined as progressed, regressed, or unchanged. RESULTS: In 48 dogs, 3AVB remained unchanged, whereas in 7 it regressed. Eight cases of 2AVB progressed, 3 regressed and 2 remained unchanged. Eight cases of paroxysmal 3AVB progressed and 3 remained unchanged. Four dogs affected by 2:1 2AVB progressed, 2 regressed, and 1 remained unchanged. All cases with 3AVB with AF remained unchanged. Regression occurred within 30 days after PMI, whereas progression was documented at any time. Variations in IR were associated with type of AVB (P < .03) and time of follow-up (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The degree of AVB assessed at the time of PMI should not be considered definitive because more than one-third of the cases in this study either progressed or regressed. Additional studies would be necessary to elucidate possible causes for transient AVB in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26572234/