Background: Ventricular premature contractions (VPCs) are common in the occult stage of cardiomyopathy in Doberman Pinschers. Although the gold standard for detecting arrhythmia is the 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography (ECG) (Holter), this method is more expensive, time-consuming and often not as readily available as common ECG.Objectives: Comparison of 5-minute ECGs with Holter examinations. Animals: Eight hundred and seventy-five 5-minute ECGs and Holter examinations of 431 Doberman Pinschers. Methods: Each examination included a 5-minute ECG and Holter examination. A cut-off value of 4100 VPCs/24 hours using Holter was considered diagnostic for the presence of cardiomyopathy. Statistical evaluation included calculation of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value.Results: Holter examinations revealed 4100 VPCs/24 hours in 204/875 examinations. At least 1 VPC during a 5-minute ECG was detected in 131 (64.2%) of these 204 examinations. No VPCs were found in the 5-minute ECG in 73 (35.8%) examinations of affected Doberman Pinschers. A 5-minute ECG with at least 1 VPC as cut-off had a sensitivity of 64.2%, a specificity of 96.7%, a positive predictive value of 85.6% and a negative predictive value of 89.9% for the presence of 4100 VPCs/24 hours.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: A 5-minute ECG is a rather insensitive method for detecting arrhythmias in Doberman Pinschers. However, the occurrence of at least 1 VPC in 5 minutes strongly warrants further examination of the dog, because specificity (96.7%) and positive predictive value (85.6%) are high and could suggest occult cardiomyopathy.

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