Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Vertebral heart score helps identify heart cough in dogs with mitral
By Guglielmini, Carlo et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2009·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Use of the vertebral heart score in coughing dogs with chronic degenerative mitral valve disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 90 dogs with chronic coughing and diagnosed with chronic degenerative mitral valve disease (MVD) were studied to find out if a specific heart measurement could help determine the cause of their cough. The researchers found that 41% of the dogs had a cough related to their heart condition, while others had non-cardiac causes. Dogs with non-cardiac coughs had a lower vertebral heart score (VHS), suggesting that a VHS of 11.4 or lower could indicate a cough not related to heart issues. This measurement could help vets better understand the cause of coughing in dogs with MVD and guide treatment options.
People also search for: dog coughing heart disease · chronic cough in dogs · mitral valve disease treatment in dogs
Abstract
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of the vertebral heart score (VHS) in coughing dogs with chronic degenerative mitral valve disease (MVD). Survey thoracic radiographs of 90 dogs with a history of cough and clinical and echocardiographic evidence of MVD were evaluated by 2 independent observers. The observers were asked to first determine the origin of the cough as cardiac, non-cardiac or mixed and then to measure the VHS. Agreement regarding diagnosis of the origin of cough was obtained (kappa=0.64) in 69 dogs. Of these 69 dogs, 28 (41%), 32 (46%) and 9 (13%) had a cough of cardiac, non-cardiac and mixed origin, respectively. The dogs with a cough of non-cardiac origin had a significantly lower VHS (mean +/- SD, 11 +/- 0.9) compared with those of dogs with a cough of cardiac or mixed origin (12.8 +/- 1 and 12.9 +/- 0.9, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that a VHS < or = 11.4 is fairly accurate for exclusion of a cough of cardiac origin in dogs with MVD. The results indicate that the VHS may be an additional tool for differentiating the origin of cough in dogs with MVD.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19194070/