2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the ACEI imidapril has a good clinical efficacy in the treatment of dogs with congestive heart failure (CHF) caused by MMVD. Moreover, the results indicate that imidapril is not inferior to the earlier ACEI ramipril, and treatment with the imidapril is well-tolerated. Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common acquired canine heart disease, characterized by various severities of clinical signs from asymptomatic state to sudden death. Because of potential deleterious consequences and high prevalence of MMVD in veterinary medicine, it is important to detect progression of the disease early and accurately. Of tools for evaluation of myocardial function, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and strain imaging were relatively recent technique and independent of load conditions compared with conventional echocardiography. Although valuations of TDI and strain imaging have been performed in MMVD dogs, the classification was quite broad to examine changes with progression of the disease. Therefore, we sought to investigate the alterations of TDI and strain imaging in MMVD dogs with different stages divided into 4 groups. In addition, we aimed to investigate the correlation between variables of conventional echocardiographic, and TDI and strain imaging examination.