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. 2021 Jan;35(1):58-67.
doi: 10.1111/jvim.15972. Epub 2020 Dec 21.

Retrospective study of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs

Kimberly J Freid  1 , Lisa M Freeman  1 , John E Rush  1 , Suzanne M Cunningham  1 , Megan S Davis  1 , Emily T Karlin  1 , Vicky K Yang  1
Affiliations

Retrospective study of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs

Kimberly J Freid et al. J Vet Intern Med. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Background: The United States Food and Drug Administration is investigating possible diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs and cats.

Objectives: To retrospectively review DCM cases for signalment, diet information, echocardiographic changes, and survival.

Animals: Client-owned dogs (n = 71).

Methods: Medical records of dogs diagnosed with DCM between January 1, 2014 and September 30, 2018 were reviewed. Dogs were grouped into "traditional" or "nontraditional" diet categories and whether or not diet was changed after diagnosis.

Results: For dogs eating nontraditional diets, those that had their diets changed had a larger percentage decrease in normalized systolic left ventricular internal dimension (P = .03) and left atrial:aorta ratio (P < .001) compared to those that did not have their diets changed. Survival time was significantly longer for dogs with DCM eating nontraditional diets that had their diets changed (median survival, 337 days; range, 9-1307 days) compared to dogs eating nontraditional diets that did not have their diets changed (median survival, 215 days; range, 1-852 days; P = .002).

Conclusions and clinical importance: Dogs with DCM eating nontraditional diets can experience improvement in cardiac function after diet change but additional research is needed to examine possible associations between diet and DCM.

Keywords: cardiology; congestive heart failure; grain-free; nutritional.

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Conflict of interest statement

In the last 3 years, Dr. Freeman has received research funding from, given sponsored lectures for, and/or provided professional services to Aratana Therapeutics, Elanco, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare, P&G Pet Care (now Mars), and Royal Canin. In the last 3 years, Dr. Rush has received research funding from, given sponsored lectures for, and/or provided professional services to Aratana Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Elanco, IDEXX, Nestlé Purina PetCare, and Royal Canin.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Comparison of echocardiographic changes in 45 of 71 dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) that had a follow‐up echocardiogram at least 90 days after diagnosis. Dogs are categorized as eating nontraditional diets that had their diets changed after diagnosis (NT‐change), dogs with DCM eating nontraditional diets that did not have their diets changed (NT‐no change), and dogs with DCM eating traditional diets (Traditional). Bars represent the mean percent change (±SD) in the echocardiographic measurement between the time of diagnosis and last measurement. FS, fractional shortening; LA:Ao, left atrial diameter:aortic diameter (2‐dimensional); nLVIDd, normalized left ventricular internal diameter in diastole; nLVIDs, normalized left ventricular internal diameter in systole
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Kaplan‐Meier survival curves comparing survival time in 71 dogs with DCM: 31/56 dogs eating nontraditional diets that had their diets changed after diagnosis (black solid line) and 25/56 dogs eating nontraditional diets that did not have their diets changed after diagnosis (black dotted line). Survival time was significantly longer in dogs eating nontraditional diets that had their diets changed compared to dogs eating nontraditional diets that did not have their diets changed (P = .002). Survival time for dogs in the traditional diet group (n = 15; gray dashed line) was not significantly different compared to the nontraditional diet group that had their diets changed (P = .33) or to the nontraditional diet group that did not have their diets changed (P = .07)
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Kaplan‐Meier survival curves comparing survival time in 50 dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) that had congestive heart failure (CHF) at the time of diagnosis. Dogs with DCM and CHF in the nontraditional diet group that had their diets changed (n = 25; black solid line) had a significantly longer survival time compared to dogs in the nontraditional diet group that did not have their diets changed (n = 18; black dotted line; P = .01). No significant differences were found between dogs in the traditional diet group with CHF (n = 7; gray dashed line) and either the nontraditional diet group that had their diets changed (P = .88) or the nontraditional diet group that did not have their diets changed (P = .16)
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