Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Echocardiographic score to grade mitral valve disease severity in dogs
By Vezzosi, Tommaso et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2021·Department of Veterinary Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The Mitral INsufficiency Echocardiographic score: A severity classification of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 560 dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), a common heart condition, was evaluated to create a new scoring system to determine how severe the disease is. The Mitral INsufficiency Echocardiographic (MINE) score uses specific heart measurements to classify the disease into mild, moderate, severe, and late-stage categories. Dogs with a higher score had a shorter survival time, with those in the late stage living an average of just 157 days. This new scoring system can help veterinarians assess the severity of MMVD and predict outcomes more accurately.
People also search for: dog heart disease symptoms · myxomatous mitral valve disease treatment · dog heart murmur prognosis
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is no commonly shared severity score for myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) based on routinely acquired echocardiographic variables. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To propose an easy-to-use echocardiographic classification of severity of MMVD in dogs. ANIMALS: Five hundred and sixty dogs with MMVD. METHODS: This was a retrospective, multicenter, observational study. The proposed Mitral INsufficiency Echocardiographic (MINE) score was based on 4 echocardiographic variables: left atrium-to-aorta ratio, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter normalized for body weight, fractional shortening, and E-wave transmitral peak velocity. Specific echocardiographic cutoffs were defined based on previous prognostic studies on MMVD, and severity scores were assigned as follows: mild (score: 4-5), moderate (score: 6-7), severe (score: 8-12), late stage (score: 13-14). RESULTS: Median survival time was significantly different (P < .05) between the proposed severity classes: mild (2344 days, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1877-2810 days), moderate (1882 days, 95% CI 1341-2434 days), severe (623 days, 95% CI 432-710 days), and late stage (157 days, 95% CI 53-257 days). A MINE score >8 was predictive of cardiac death (area under the curve = 0.85; P < .0001; sensitivity 87%, specificity 73%). In the multivariable analysis, all the echocardiographic variables of the MINE score were independent predictors of death because of heart disease (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The MINE score is a new easy-to-use echocardiographic classification of severity of MMVD, which has been proven to be clinically effective as it is associated with survival. This classification provides prognostic information and could be useful for an objective echocardiographic assessment of MMVD.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33951235/