Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting low heart murmurs in boxer dogs before and after exercise
By Höglund, K et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2004·Department of Anatomy and Physiology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Low intensity heart murmurs in boxer dogs: inter-observer variation and effects of stress testing.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 27 Boxer dogs was examined for low-intensity heart murmurs by six veterinarians with varying experience levels. The dogs were checked before and after exercise, and some had a subvalvular aortic ridge, which is a heart condition that can affect blood flow. The study found that more experienced vets were better at detecting these murmurs, especially at rest, but their agreement decreased after the dogs exercised. This suggests that stress can make it harder to assess heart murmurs accurately.
People also search for: Boxer dog heart murmur · low intensity heart murmur in dogs · heart murmur treatment for Boxer dogs · stress testing for dog heart issues
Abstract
Inter-observer variation in the detection and grading of low intensity heart murmurs in boxer dogs was investigated. Six veterinarians with different levels of experience examined 27 boxers by cardiac auscultation. The dogs were auscultated before and after exercise, and the results were compared with phonocardiographic and echocardiographic examinations performed at rest and during two different stress tests. A subvalvular aortic ridge was identified in six dogs on two-dimensional echocardiography. Using dogs with low intensity murmurs or dogs free of heart murmurs, inter-observer agreement was positively correlated to the level of experience at rest (weighted kappa [kappa] 0.14 to 0.75), while the agreement was poor after exercise (weighted kappa 0.01 to 0.36). The presence of a subvalvular aortic ridge was associated with higher aortic flow velocities (P<0.002) and higher auscultatory murmur grading (P<0.001). There was an increase in murmur duration during one kind of stress test (P<0.001) and in aortic flow velocity during the other (P=0.001).
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15116885/