Comparison of traditional and sensor-based electronic stethoscopes in beagle dogs

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the auscultatory findings using traditional and electronic sensor-based stethoscopes. Thirty-three adult healthy Beagles (20 females, 13 males, mean age: 4.8 years, range 1.4-8 years) were auscultated by four investigators with different experiences (INVEST-1, -2, -3 and -4) independently with both stethoscopes. Final cardiological diagnoses were established by echocardiography. Mitral murmurs were heard with both stethoscopes by all investigators and echocardiography revealed mild mitral valve insufficiency in 7 dogs (21%, 4 females, 3 males). The statistical sensitivity (Se) in recognising cardiac murmurs proved to be 82% using the traditional stethoscope and 75% using the electronic one in the mean of the four examiners, whilst statistical specificity (Sp) was 99% by the traditional and 100% by the electronic stethoscope. The means of the auscultatory sensitivity differences between the two stethoscopes were 0.36 on the left and 0.59 on the right hemithorax, demonstrating an advantage for the electronic stethoscope being more obvious above the right hemithorax (P = 0.0340). The electronic stethoscope proved to be superior to the traditional one in excluding cardiac murmurs and especially in auscultation over the right hemithorax. Mitral valve disease was relatively common in this clinically healthy research Beagle population.

Occurrence of mitral valve insufficiency in clinically healthy Beagle dogs

“…In our previous study aimed at comparing the diagnostic capacities of traditional and sensor-based electronic stethoscopes, we 'accidentally' detected 7 dogs with MVI (21%) among 33 clinically healthy Beagles (Szilvási et al, 2013). Based on our current results on 79 dogs, we demonstrated in an acceptably large Beagle population that MVI is a quite common disorder also in Beagles, as 20 (25.3%) dogs showed mild to moderate mitral valve regurgitation confirmed by Doppler echocardiography.…”

“…In human patients, Berger et al (1989) concluded that a jet with a peak velocity of more than 4.0 m/sec may indicate abnormal mitral regurgitation. Table 2 Occurrence of mitral valve insufficiency (MVI) in clinically healthy dogs of various breeds Doppler echocardiography is considered to be the proper tool of diagnosing MVI and estimating its grade semi-quantitatively as has been done in this study and reported earlier (Pedersen et al, 1999a;Muzzi et al, 2003;Szilvási et al, 2013). Spectral Doppler echocardiography provides measurement values for maximal flow velocities of the regurgitant blood flow, but the semi-quantitative CFD technique alone is accepted for screening examinations (Olsen et al, 1999;Olsen et al, 2003;Trafny et al, 2012).…”

“…Thirty-three out of the 79 dogs of the present study had formed the study material of our previous work with another goal, i.e. comparing the diagnostic value of traditional and sensor-based electronic stethoscopes (Szilvási et al, 2013). The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Veterinary Science as well as by the relevant authorities.…”

“…In our previous study which aimed to compare the diagnostic value of traditional and electronic stethoscopes in recognising cardiac murmurs in 33 healthy, adult Beagle dogs, mitral murmurs were heard and MVI was diagnosed by colour flow Doppler (CFD) echocardiography in 7 (21%) of these dogs (Szilvási et al, 2013). This proportion seemed to be a relatively high occurrence rate.…”

Digital phonocardiography of cardiac arrhythmias in dogs – Preliminary experiences

“…Various investigators have compared conventional stethoscopes (CS) and electronic stethoscopes (ES) for their ability to identify murmurs in people (Philip and Raemer, 1986;Grenier et al, 1998;Hoyte et al, 2005;Tavel, 2006) and dogs (V€ or€ os et al, 2012;Szilv asi et al, 2013). Furthermore, our group has also used both types of stethoscopes in a study on the occurrence of mitral valve insufficiency in healthy Beagle dogs (V€ or€ os et al, 2015).…”