Key result
Addition of carvedilol to standard therapy in dogs with overt DCM did not show significant improvement in cardiac function or quality of life over standard therapy alone at 90 days.
Why the study?
Does carvedilol added to standard therapy improve cardiac function and quality of life in dogs with overt dilated cardiomyopathy?
RCT (n=16)
randomized
Does carvedilol added to standard therapy improve cardiac function and quality of life in dogs with overt dilated cardiomyopathy?
In dogs with overt dilated cardiomyopathy, adding carvedilol to standard therapy for 90 days did not significantly improve cardiac function or quality of life compared to standard therapy alone.
Does not support carvedilol addition in overt canine DCM; leaves open efficacy in subclinical stages or translational models.
This is a prospective, controlled, randomized clinical trial in canine patients with overt Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM). We hypothesized that the addition of the third generation beta-blocker carvedilol to the standard treatment of diuretic (furosemide), inotropic support (digoxin) and ACE-inhibitor (benazepril) would have beneficial effects over cardiac function and quality of life (QoL) that would be measurable 90 days post-treatment. 16 dogs diagnosed with overt DCM were recruited. They underwent clinical examination, electrocardiography, echocardiography and neurohormonal profiling (NT-proBNP and NO). Dogs were divided in two groups, receiving standard therapy or standard therapy plus carvedilol and subjected to re-evaluation on 90 days post-treatment. Our results indicated that the addition of carvedilol to the standard therapy improved echocardiographic indices of systolic function (FS and EF), reduced NT-proBNP and NO serum levels and quality of life within the group but did not showed the significant improvement over standard therapy. This suggested that the addition of carvedilol to the standard therapy in canine patients with overt DCM might have beneficial effects in cardiac function and quality of life in the treatment was continued for longer period.
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Kumar et al. (2018) conducted an RCT in overt Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) (n=16). Carvedilol vs. Standard therapy (furosemide, digoxin, benazepril) was evaluated on Cardiac function and quality of life. Addition of carvedilol to standard therapy in dogs with overt DCM did not show significant improvement in cardiac function or quality of life over standard therapy alone at 90 days.
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