Non-invasive determination of reference arterial blood pressure indices of healthy Alsatian and Boerboel dogs

Abstract

In order to evaluate and manage Boerboels and Alsatians under critical and emergency care, knowledge of ranges and causes of variability of normal arterial blood pressure (ABP) indices is desirable. The systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 30 healthy dogs were evaluated with human sphygmomanometer and neonatal cuff. The age, sex, breed, weight, height, weight to height ratio (WTH), of each dog was recorded. The mean and range of ABP values for Alsatians and Boerboels were similar to those of some other breeds. There were no age, breed and sex differences in ABP indices of dogs. The coefficient of variations and ranges of DAP and MAP were significantly higher than SAP measurements. In all dogs, SAP was influenced by breed and interaction of breed and sex when all confounders were controlled. The WTH and sex were found to independently influence SAP in presence of confounders. In Alsatian, WTH and sex interaction influenced all pressures in presence of confounders. The DAP was significantly influenced by heart rate and WTH in presence and absence of confounders respectively. Although age did not influence ABP in all dogs, it influenced SAP and DAP in females and Boerboel. The absence of age, sex, and breed differences in ABP of dogs may be due to multiple interactions between these factors. The human sphygmomanometer has the best precision for SAP measurements and WTH may be used as canine’s body mass index (BMI) because of its influence on ABP.

Keywords: Blood pressure, dogs, breed, sex, age, oscillometry