Comparison of echocardiographic measurements and cardiac biomarkers in healthy dogs eating nontraditional or traditional diets.

BACKGROUND: There has been a recent association between nontraditional diets and development of diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To compare echocardiographic measurements and cardiac biomarkers between healthy dogs eating nontraditional vs traditional diets. We hypothesized that dogs eating nontraditional diets would have lower measures of systolic myocardial performance compared to dogs eating traditional diets. ANIMALS: Forty-six healthy dogs: 23 eating nontraditional diets and 23 eating traditional diets. METHODS: Prospective, cross-sectional study. Dogs were divided into groups based on diet ingredients. Dogs underwent 2-dimensional (2D), 3-dimensional (3D), and Doppler echocardiographic examinations and analysis of plasma N-terminal prohormone of B-type natriuretic peptide, serum cardiac troponin I, and whole blood and plasma taurine concentrations. RESULTS: Mean 2D ejection fraction (EF) was lower for dogs eating nontraditional diets (48.65 ± 7.42%) vs dogs eating traditional diets (56.65 ± 4.63%; P < .001; mean difference 8.0% [4.0%-12.0%] 95% confidence interval [CI]). Mean 3D EF was lower for dogs eating nontraditional diets (45.38 ± 7.35%) vs dogs eating traditional diets (57.58 ± 4.84%; P < .001; 12.0% [8.0%-16.0%] 95% CI). Mean 2D left ventricular end-systolic volumes, indexed to body weight, were significantly higher in dogs eating nontraditional diets (1.46 ± 0.08 mL/kg) vs dogs eating traditional diets (1.06 ± 0.08 mL/kg; P = .002; 0.4 mL/kg [0.18-0.62 mL/kg] 95% CI). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Healthy dogs eating nontraditional diets had lower indices of systolic function and larger left ventricular volumes compared to dogs eating traditional diets. Screening of apparently healthy dogs eating nontraditional diets might allow for early detection of diet-associated DCM.

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In collaboration with the American College of Veterinary Radiology.

Comparison of left and right atrial volumes determined by two- and three-dimensional echocardiography with those determined by multidetector computed tomography for healthy dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To compare left atrial volume (LAV) and right atrial volume (RAV) determined by 2-D and 3-D echocardiographic methods with the LAV and RAV determined by ECG-gated multidetector CT (MDCT) for healthy dogs. ANIMALS: 11 healthy purpose-bred young adult hound-type dogs. PROCEDURES: Each dog was anesthetized and underwent MDCT and a complete echocardiographic examination. Modality-specific software was used to measure the respective atrial volumes at ventricular end systole, and LAV and RAV measurements were subsequently indexed to body weight and compared among imaging modalities. RESULTS: The LAV determined by echocardiographic methods did not differ significantly from the LAV determined by MDCT. However, the RAV determined by 3-D echocardiography and 2-D echocardiography via the left apical and left cranial windows differed significantly from the RAV determined by MDCT. Bland-Altman analyses indicated that the indexed LAV and RAV determined by echocardiographic methods were systematically underestimated, compared with MDCT measurements, but the bias was much smaller for LAV than for RAV. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggested that, for dogs, echocardiography might be an acceptable alternative to MDCT for measurement of LAV but not for measurement of RAV. However, the study population was small and homogenous in terms of breed, age, and weight. These findings need to be validated in a larger, more varied population of dogs with and without cardiac disease.