Assessment of transmitral Doppler as a predictor of congestion in myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs: a retrospective study

Abstract

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MVMD) is responsible for almost 75% of heart diseases observed in dogs and the diagnosis is made through echocardiography. The use of the pulsed Doppler method in transmitral flow has been shown to produce important information regarding the prognosis of affected patients, since the increase in the peak of E-wave velocity was associated with worsening of mitral regurgitation. The present study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the echocardiographic examinations of dogs with DMVM attended at the Veterinary Hospital of the Londrina State University, between January and June 2021, looking for the correlation between the mitral E wave velocity peak and the left atrium/aorta ratio (LA/ Ao) and the stage of the disease. Ninety echocardiographic records were analyzed, classifying the patients according to the ACVIM classification (groups B1, B2 and C). The three groups studied showed a significant difference between them based on the values ​​of the AE/Ao ratio (B1: 1.40 ± 0.024 vs B2: 1.81 ± 0.054 vs C: 2.26 ± 0.104) and a positive correlation was observed between the AE/Ao ratio and E-wave velocity (p<0.0001; r=0.52). According to the data obtained, it can be concluded that the transmitral Doppler study is a complementary exam that can help to obtain the prognosis of the patient with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration.