title: Non-invasive real-time measurements of cardiac vagal tone in dogs with cardiac disease.
abstract: In dogs with spontaneous heart disease, an electronically generated measurement of cardiac vagal tone, the cardiac index of parasympathetic activity, was a sensitive, simple and inexpensive measure of the severity of heart failure. Dogs with cardiac disease and an index score less than 3 were at 15.8 (95 per cent confidence interval 2.9 to 87.2) times the risk of dying within a year than those with a score of 3 and over. The measurement of the index provided an objective and reliable beat-by-beat measurement of cardiac vagal tone, which was prognostically useful in dogs with heart disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Comparative Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1QH.
authors.forename: C J L
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: P O O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Julu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: S W J
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology