Table 4.
Baseline characteristics of the 2 treatment groups in the per‐protocol population and their comparison. Continuous variables are reported as median (interquartile range). Categorical variables are reported as number (%)
| Variable | Treatment groups | P‐value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pimobendan n = 178 | Placebo n = 176 | |||
| Dog characteristics | Age (years) | 9.0 (8.0–11.0) | 9.0 (7.0–11.0) | .80 |
| Sex (M/F/MC/FS) (%) | 36/6/75/61 (20/3/38/34) | 35/12/66/63 (20/7/38/36) | .46 | |
| Breed (CKCS/Dachshund/Miniature Schnauzer/Poodle/Yorkshire terrier/mixed breed/other) (%) | 77/12/5/4/0/26/54 (43/7/3/2/0/15/30) | 84/9/8/4/8/19/44 (47/5/5/2/5/11/25) | .02 | |
| Comorbidities | Known comorbidities (yes/no)(%) | 76/102 (43/57) | 71/105 (40/60) | .67 |
| Dose of test medication | Dose pimobendan (mg/kg/day) | 0.49 (0.44–0.53) | NA | NA |
| Quality of life and respiratory variables (See Table S1 for details) | Appetite (decreased/normal/increased) (%) | 4/165/9 (2/93/5) | 3/166/7 (2/94/4) | .89 |
| Demeanor (alert/mildly lethargic/moderately lethargic)(%) | 175/3/0 (98/3/0) | 168/7/1 (95/4/1) | .16 | |
| Exercise tolerance (very good/good/decreased) (%) | 118/53/7 (66/30/4) | 99/70/7 (56/40/4) | .13 | |
| Fainting (none/rarely/occasional) (%) | 175/3/0 (98/2/0) | 170/4/2 (97/2/1) | .35 | |
| Respiratory effort (normal/mildly increased/moderately increased) (%) | 172/5/1 (97/3/1) | 164/10/2 (93/6/1) | .29 | |
| Cough (none/occasional/frequent/persistent) (%) | 108/48/20/2 (61/27/11/1) | 123/35/17/1 (70/20/10/1) | .32 | |
| Nocturnal coughing (none/slight/moderate) (%) | 157/20/0 (89/11/0) | 163/10/2 (93/6/1) | .06 | |
| Physical examination variable | Body weight (kg) | 8.6 (6.9–10.6) | 9.0 (7.1–10.5) | .65 |
| Body condition score (underweight (1–3)/normal (4–6)/overweight (7–9)) (%) | 0/166/12 (0/93/7) | 5/148/23 (3/84/13) | .006 | |
| Rectal temperature (°C) | 38.7 (38.4–39.1) | 38.7 (38.4–39.0) | .69 | |
| Heart rate (BPM) | 124 (110–140) | 122 (112–140) | .96 | |
| Respiratory rate (breaths/min) | 28 (24–36) | 28 (24–36) | .65 | |
| Systolic arterial blood pressure (mmHg) | 140 (130–155) | 140 (130–160) | .87 | |
| Heart murmur intensity (moderate (grade 3–4)/severe (grade 5–6))(%) | 133/45 (75/25) | 133/43 (76/24) | .90 | |
| Diagnostic imaging variables | VHS | 11.3 (10.9–12.0) | 11.5 (11.0–11.9) | .12 |
| LVIDs (cm) | 2.0 (1.75–2.36) | 2.0 (1.74–2.28) | .33 | |
| LVIDSN | 1.03 (0.93–1.14) | 1.02 (0.93–1.10) | .26 | |
| LVIDd (cm) | 3.61 (3.29–4.01) | 3.61 (3.27–3.90) | .76 | |
| LVIDDN | 1.9 (1.8–2.1) | 1.9 (1.8–2.0) | .83 | |
| FS% (%) | 43 (39–48) | 44 (41–49) | .17 | |
| LA/Ao | 1.89 (1.73–2.10) | 1.86 (1.72–2.06) | .60 | |
| Laboratory variables | Na+ (mmol/l) | 148 (145–150) | 148 (146–149) | .54 |
| K+ (mmol/l) | 4.4 (4.1–4.8) | 4.4 (4.1–4.7) | .30 | |
| PCV (%) | 44.0 (41.0–48.0) | 44.0 (40.0–48.1) | .82 | |
| Creatinine (micromol/L) | 70.7 (60.0–88.4) | 70.7 (61.0–82.2) | .72 | |
| TPC (g/L) | 65 (61–69) | 66 (62–70) | .13 | |
| GPT (ALT) (U/L) | 43 (29–68) | 42 (30–66) | .83 | |
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; BCS, body condition score; BPM, beats per minute; CKCS, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels; F, female; FS, female spayed; FS%, fractional shortening; GPT, glutamic pyruvate transaminase; K+, potassium concentration; LA/Ao, left atrial‐to‐aortic root ratio; LVIDd, left ventricular internal diameter in diastole; LVIDDN, normalized left ventricular internal diameter in diastole; LVIDs, left ventricular internal diameter in systole; LVIDSN, normalized left ventricular internal diameter in systole; M, male; MN, male neutered; Na+, sodium concentration; PCV, packed cell volume; TPC, total protein concentration; VHS, vertebral heart sum.
P‐values that appear in bold are < 0.05.