Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Measuring heart nerve activity to predict survival in dogs with heart
By Little, C J L et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2005·Institute of Comparative Medicine, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Non-invasive real-time measurements of cardiac vagal tone in dogs with cardiac disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with heart disease had their cardiac vagal tone measured to see how it related to their health and risk of dying. The results showed that dogs with a score below 3 were significantly more likely to die within a year compared to those with a score of 3 or higher. This simple and inexpensive measurement can help veterinarians assess the severity of heart failure in dogs and make better treatment decisions. By monitoring this index, vets can provide more accurate prognoses for dogs with heart problems.
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Abstract
In dogs with spontaneous heart disease, an electronically generated measurement of cardiac vagal tone, the cardiac index of parasympathetic activity, was a sensitive, simple and inexpensive measure of the severity of heart failure. Dogs with cardiac disease and an index score less than 3 were at 15.8 (95 per cent confidence interval 2.9 to 87.2) times the risk of dying within a year than those with a score of 3 and over. The measurement of the index provided an objective and reliable beat-by-beat measurement of cardiac vagal tone, which was prognostically useful in dogs with heart disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15704549/