Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Heart rate variability changes in dogs with mitral valve disease
By Baisan, R A et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2021·Department of Clinics·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Short-term heart rate variability in healthy dogs and dogs in various stages of degenerative mitral valve disease evaluated before pharmacotherapy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy dogs and dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (MVD) were studied to see how their heart rate changed with the disease. Researchers found that as MVD progressed, the dogs' heart rate variability decreased, especially in those with more severe disease. This means that the balance of their nervous system was affected even before they showed any obvious symptoms or heart enlargement. Understanding these changes could help in finding ways to treat dogs with MVD earlier, potentially improving their health outcomes.
People also search for: dog heart disease symptoms · mitral valve disease in dogs · heart rate variability in dogs · treatment for dog heart problems
Abstract
Mitral valve disease (MVD) progression is associated with autonomic nervous system (ANS) imbalance. This study hypothesized that sympathetic and parasympathetic tones would be altered with MVD progression. ANS activity was assessed among different MVD classes in untreated dogs. This cross-sectional retrospective study included 29 healthy control dogs and 71 dogs with MVD divided according to American College of Internal Medicine (ACVIM) guidelines. Heart rate variability (HRV) analyses utilised time and frequency domains and were derived from 5 min, six-lead electrocardiogram recordings of sinus rhythm or respiratory sinus arrhythmia. While all time domain-related HRV parameters decreased with disease severity, only dogs in stage C exhibited significantly lower values (P < 0.05). High frequency (HF) band values decreased more than low frequency (LF) band values as disease severity increased (P < 0.05). The LF/HF ratio also progressively increased with MVD severity. A negative correlation was observed between HRV parameters and La/Ao ratio when the entire MVD case population was pooled (P < 0.05). Both sympathetic and parasympathetic tones were altered in dogs with MVD before clinical signs were observed and prior to the development of cardiomegaly. This is the first HRV study in untreated dogs with MVD. Investigating ANS imbalances preceding subclinical left-sided cardiomegaly in dogs with MVD should be considered in future age-matched, longitudinal studies to determine the potential benefits of early vagal tone augmentation in high-risk canine patients.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34148017/