Vitamin D levels in Dogs with Chronic Valvular Heart Disease | VETgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

Summary: In today's VETgirl veterinary continuing education podcast, we review whether Vitamin D plays a role in heart disease in dogs. Vitamin D deficiency, as determined via serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, is associated with worsened cardiac function, heart failure symptoms, and prognosis in human heart failure patients. Supplementation of vitamin D in such patients improves cardiac function and improves prognosis. A 2014 study in dogs demonstrated that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are lower in dogs with CHF secondary to either CVHD or DCM than in normal dogs. So, Osuga et al out of Japan wanted to evaluate if an association exists between vitamin D status and all stages of CVHD, as well as investigate if any association exists between vitamin D status and echocardiographic parameters of cardiac structure and function in these canine patients.