title: Diagnosis of bovine cardiomyopathy by electrolyte and protein analysis.
abstract: The intention of this paper was to describe a reliable method for the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy (CMP) in adult cattle and, in particular, a clear distinction between CMP and inflammatory heart disease (IHD). In a first study we performed a linear discriminant analysis using serum and urine electrolyte concentrations (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate, iron, creatinine) of 33 CMP-affected and 35 healthy cattle. This analysis allowed to classify all the animals of both animal groups correctly. In a second study, we examined the clotting reaction of the glutaraldehyde coagulation test (GCT) in cardiomyopathy (n = 49), inflammatory heart diseases (n = 9) and in healthy cows (n = 35). 96% of the CMP-sick and all the control animals showed a clotting time above 10 minutes. In the IHD group, the clotting time was always below 10 minutes. In a third study, we applied the combination of discriminant analysis and GCT to a new set of CMP- (n = 14) and IHD-affected (n = 9) as well as to healthy cattle (n = 15). The classification was correct in 93% of the CMP-sick and in all the IHD-affected and the control animals. The results are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Nutztiere und Pferde, Universität Bern.
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Graber
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000032:analysis*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D003404:Creatinine