Medical management of myxomatous mitral valve disease : an evidence-based veterinary medicine approach
Loading...
Date
Authors
Burchell, Richard K.
Schoeman, Johan P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
OpenJournals Publishing
Abstract
Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common heart disease of dogs. The
current management of MMVD in dogs is mostly pharmacological, and the recommendations
for treatment are based on a number of veterinary studies. Notwithstanding the current
consensus regarding the medical management of MMVD, there remains active debate
as to which drugs are the most effective. In order to understand how recommendations
are constructed in the pharmacological management of diseases, the veterinarian needs to
understand the concept of evidence-based veterinary medicine, and how the findings of these
studies can be applied in their own practices. This review summarises the current veterinary
literature and explains how the consensus regarding the management of MMVD has been
reached. This review highlights the limitations of veterinary studies in order to provide
veterinary practitioners with a sense of the difficulty there is in establishing the benefit of one
treatment over the other. Veterinarians should therefore apply treatment recommendations
based on the best evidence, integrated with a pathomechanistic understanding of the disease
process and clinical experience.
Description
Keywords
Veterinary medicine, Heart disease, Dogs, Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD)
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Burchell. R.K. & Schoeman, J., 2014, ' Medical management of myxomatous mitral valve disease: An evidence-based veterinary medicine approach', Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 85(1), Art. #1095, 7 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.4102/jsava.v85i1.1095.