Abstract
Background: Clinical findings associated with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measurement in dogs and cats in primary practice, and their relevance to published measurement indications, have not been described.
Methods: Using electronic health record data collected by The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network, appointments at which NT-proBNP was measured were identified using keyword-based text filtering. For these appointments, clinical findings were manually identified from each patient’s clinical narrative (CN) and their frequencies described.
Results: CNs of 3510 appointments (357 dogs and 257 cats) from 99practices were evaluated. The most frequently-recorded clinical findings in dogs were: heart murmur (n=147, 41.2% (95% confidence interval (CI)=36.1-46.3%), coughing (n=83, 23.2% (95% CI=18.8-27.6%)) and panting (n=58, 16.2% (95% CI=12.4-20.0%)) and in cats: heart murmur (n=143, 55.6% (95% CI=49.5-61.7%)), suspected thromboembolism (n=88, 34.2% (95% CI=28.4-40.0%)) and weight loss (n=53, 20.6% (95% CI=15.7-25.5%)). Dyspnoea and tachypnoea were infrequently reported in dogs (n=29, 8.1% (95% CI=5.3-10.9%) and n=21, 5.9% (95% CI=3.5-8.3%), respectively) and cats (n=26, 10.1% (95% CI=6.4-13.8) and n=36, 14.0% (95% CI=9.8-18.2), respectively).
Conclusion: clinical findings referable to cardiac disease were recorded contemporaneously with NT-proBNP measurement and suggested both published and other indications (coughing (in dogs and cats), and serial measurements and thromboembolism (in cats)) for testing.
Methods: Using electronic health record data collected by The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network, appointments at which NT-proBNP was measured were identified using keyword-based text filtering. For these appointments, clinical findings were manually identified from each patient’s clinical narrative (CN) and their frequencies described.
Results: CNs of 3510 appointments (357 dogs and 257 cats) from 99practices were evaluated. The most frequently-recorded clinical findings in dogs were: heart murmur (n=147, 41.2% (95% confidence interval (CI)=36.1-46.3%), coughing (n=83, 23.2% (95% CI=18.8-27.6%)) and panting (n=58, 16.2% (95% CI=12.4-20.0%)) and in cats: heart murmur (n=143, 55.6% (95% CI=49.5-61.7%)), suspected thromboembolism (n=88, 34.2% (95% CI=28.4-40.0%)) and weight loss (n=53, 20.6% (95% CI=15.7-25.5%)). Dyspnoea and tachypnoea were infrequently reported in dogs (n=29, 8.1% (95% CI=5.3-10.9%) and n=21, 5.9% (95% CI=3.5-8.3%), respectively) and cats (n=26, 10.1% (95% CI=6.4-13.8) and n=36, 14.0% (95% CI=9.8-18.2), respectively).
Conclusion: clinical findings referable to cardiac disease were recorded contemporaneously with NT-proBNP measurement and suggested both published and other indications (coughing (in dogs and cats), and serial measurements and thromboembolism (in cats)) for testing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e945 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Veterinary Record |
| Early online date | 23 Sept 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Sept 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dr. Hezzell has previously received research and travel funding from IDEXX Laboratories Inc.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association