Doberman Pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy ( DCM) are at high risk of sudden cardiac death ( SCD). Risk factors for SCD are poorly defined.
To assess cardiac biomarkers, Holter‐ ECG, echocardiographic variables and canine characteristics in a group of Doberman Pinschers with DCM dying of SCD and in a DCM control group to identify factors predicting SCD.
A longitudinal prospective study was performed in 95 Doberman Pinschers with DCM. Forty‐one dogs died within 3 months after the last cardiac examination ( SCD‐group) and were compared to 54 Doberman Pinschers with DCM surviving 1 year after inclusion. Holter‐ ECG, echocardiography, measurement of N‐terminal prohormone of brain‐natriuretic peptide ( NT‐pro BNP), and cardiac Troponin I ( cTnI) concentrations were recorded for all dogs.
Volume overload of the left ventricle (left ventricular end‐diastolic volume ( LVEDV/ BSA) > 91.3 mL/m²) was the single best variable to predict SCD. The probability of SCD increases 8.5‐fold ( CI 0.95 = 0.8–35.3) for every 50 mL/m²‐unit increment in LVEDV/ BSA. Ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular end‐systolic volume ( LVESV/ BSA) and NT‐pro BNP were highly correlated with LVEDV/ BSA ( r = −0.63, 0.96, 0.86, respectively). Generated conditional inference trees (CTREEs) revealed that the presence of ventricular tachycardia ( VT), increased concentration of cTnI, and the fastest rate (FR) of ventricular premature complexes ( VPC) ≥260 beats per minute (bpm) are additional important variables to predict SCD.