Congestive heart failure (CHF) was evaluated by retrospective review of case records of 66 Doberman Pinschers presenting with overt signs of 2 weeks' duration or less. Left-sided CHF was predominant, the majority of dogs were male, most were 5 to 10 years of age, and CHF tended to occur in females at an older age. Sudden death occurred in 13 dogs (20%). The mean and median survival times of all dogs were 9.65 and 6.5 weeks, respectively. Both atrial fibrillation and bilateral CHF at the time of presentation were associated with significantly shorter survival times.

Results of high-quality Holter recordings may be used to identify overtly healthy Doberman Pinschers that are at a high risk for dilated cardiomyopathy.

SUMMARYThe degree and effectiveness of compensatory changes in the distal coronary vascular bed during progressive proximal coronary stenosis have not been described. In this study, coronary vascular bed resistance and pressure gradient-flow relationships were determined for 157 Neither the flow transducer nor circumflex catheters affected maximum coronary flows or induced significant pressure gradients. This observation was repeatedly confirmed by recording maximal flows before and after insertion of the circumflex catheters and by recording circumflex coronary pressure during hyperemia before and after removal 1085

Results suggested that along with echocardiography, 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography can be used to help identify overtly healthy Doberman Pinschers with cardiomyopathy.

Overtly healthy Doberman pinschers, having moderate to severe myocardial failure secondary to dilated cardiomyopathy, which experienced ventricular tachycardia, syncope or collapse, and sudden death were studied to determine the effect of antiarrhythmic medication on their clinical outcome. Antiarrhythmia drug therapy may have retarded sudden death in 13 treated dogs compared to the six dogs not administered antiarrhythmia drugs.