Abstract: Background: Mitral valve repair (MVR) could be a curative treatment for myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs, and cardioplegic solutions play an essential role in its procedure. However, procedure methodologies are not well established, and complications have not been clarified yet. Hypothesis/Objectives: We hypothesized that the incidence of ventricular fibrillation (VF), the main complication of reperfusion injury after cross-clamping, might be lower with blood cardioplegia (BCP) than with crystalloid cardioplegia (CCP). Animals: A total of 251 client-owned dogs who underwent MVR by a single surgeon from November 2015 to November 2017 were included. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the dogs’ surgical records, including VF incidence, use of transfusion, and cross-clamping time, as well as echocardiographic measurements obtained before and 1-month after surgery. Dogs were divided into two groups according to the type of cardioplegia, CCP and BCP. Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that group CCP (odds ratio [OR]=2.20, confidence interval [CI]=1.06–4.57; P=0.03) and cross-clamping time (OR=1.04, CI=1.01–1.06, P< 0.01) were associated with AF. In addition, group CCP (OR=2.52, CI=1.19–5.32, P=0.02) and low body weight (OR=0.58, CI=0.49–0.69, P< 0.01) were associated with transfusion use. There was no difference between the groups in the pre- and postoperative echocardiographic measurements. Conclusions and clinical importance: The BCP group had a lower incidence of VF and less use of blood transfusion than the CCP group. This finding indicates that BCP is a superior cardioplegic technique for MVR in dogs.
.jpg "Kentaro Kurogochi, DVM, PhD photo")
