Background: Differentiating innocent cardiac murmurs from murmurs caused by congenital cardiac anomalies can be challenging with auscultation alone in asymptomatic puppies. Hypothesis: Plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations and phonocardiograms recorded by an electronic stethoscope can differentiate innocent from pathologic cardiac murmurs. Animals: A total of 186 client-owned asymptomatic dogs: 135 Cairn Terriers (age: 45–124 days), 20 adult Cairn Terriers (age: 7.5 months to 13.5 years), and 31 puppies of various breeds (age: 29–396 days). Methods: Study design is a cross-sectional survey. Each dog was auscultated, and when a cardiac murmur was heard, a phonocardiogram was recorded and an echocardiogram was performed. Plasma NT-proBNP concentrations were measured by a single laboratory by an ELISA. Results: No significant (P =.41) difference in plasma NT-proBNP levels was found between puppies without a murmur and puppies with an innocent murmur (median 300 versus 326 pmol/L), and between clinically healthy adult Cairn Terriers and Cairn Terrier puppies. Plasma NT-proBNP levels in puppies with a congenital heart disease were significantly (P
CITATION STYLE
Marinus, S. M., van Engelen, H., & Szatmári, V. (2017). N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide and Phonocardiography in Differentiating Innocent Cardiac Murmurs from Congenital Cardiac Anomalies in Asymptomatic Puppies. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 31(3), 661–667. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.14667
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