Predictors of reoccurrence of congestive signs within 180 days after successful treatment of the first episode of congestive heart failure in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease

Introduction: Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most com-mon cause of left-sided congestive heart failure in dogs. We sought to identify pre-dictors of first reoccurrence of congestive signs (CS) within 180 days in dogs with MMVD and clinically stable heart failure.Animals: A total of 445 dogs affected by stable American College of Veterinary In-ternal Medicine (ACVIM)-Stage-C MMVD were included, 106 in the reoccurrence group (RG) and 339 in no reoccurrence group (NRG). Patients were considered & ldquo;stable & rdquo; if medical treatment had been unchanged for at least 4 weeks since the first identification of CS.Methods: Medical records of dogs with stable ACVIM-Stage-C MMVD included in a registry of dogs affected by MMVD were reviewed. Follow-up was required for inclusion in this investigation. Logistic regression was used to identify clinical and echo cardiographic variables that independently predict first reoccurrence of CS. Results: Baseline left atrial-aortic ratio (p=0.022, OR: 1.89, 90% CI: 1.20-2.98), left ventricular internal diameter at end-diastole (LVIDd_N) (p=0.014, OR: 2.84, 90% CI: 1.41-5.77), peak velocity of early diastolic transmitral flow (p=0.049, OR: 1.81, 90% CI: 1.10-3. 00) and furosemide daily dosage (p=0.039, OR: 1.19, 90% CI: 1.04-1.37) were associated with reoccurrence of CS in univariable analyses. The LVIDd_N (p=0.014) remained significant in the multivariable analysis, but the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.57.Conclusion: This study failed to identify accurate predictors of reoccurrence of CS. However, dogs with larger value of LVIDd_N are more likely to have reoccurrence of CS within 180 days.(c)& nbsp;2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.