RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE 28th ECVIM-CA CONGRESS

on anamnesis, clinical examination and echocardiography. Laboratory examinations included biochemical analysis and complete blood count including RET‐HE; iron status was assessed based on serum iron, ferritin, TSAT and total iron binding capacity (TIBC). Non‐parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. With increasing severity of heart failure serum iron (p=0.002) and TSAT significantly decreased (p=0.026); medium and range of TSAT were 35% (21‐63%, n=25) in healthy controls, 36% (5‐85%, n=39) in class B2, 33% (19‐67%, n=17) in C1, 33% (10‐38%, n=15) in C2, and 28% (11‐39%, n=4) in C3. Specifically, dogs in C2 had significantly lower TSAT compared to healthy controls (p = 0.007) and dogs in B2 (p = 0.002). No differences were observed in TIBC (p=0.098), ferritin (p=0.81) and RET‐HE (p=0.5).