Echocardiographic values for normal conditioned and unconditioned North American whippets

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Cardiology
• Canine Echocardiography

Background:

• Echocardiographic reference intervals are not established for North American whippets.
• The impact of athletic training on whippet cardiac parameters is unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• Develop normal echocardiographic reference intervals for North American whippets.
• Investigate differences in echocardiographic parameters between conditioned and unconditioned pet whippets.

Main Methods:

• Echocardiographic examination of 100 healthy North American whippets.
• Construction of reference intervals using 2D, M-mode, Doppler, and tissue Doppler.
• Assessment of athletic conditioning's effect on cardiac structure and function.

Main Results:

• Reference ranges for cardiac dimensions and function in healthy North American whippets are provided.
• Conditioned whippets exhibited significantly larger left ventricular (LV) chamber diameter and LV mass, even when normalized for weight.
• Mitral E velocity was higher in conditioned dogs, while systolic function measures did not differ.

Conclusions:

• Pet whippets in peak athletic condition possess larger hearts compared to less conditioned individuals.
• Athletic conditioning may lead to eccentric left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in whippets.
• Accurate interpretation of cardiac findings in whippets necessitates the use of population-specific reference intervals.