N‐Terminal Pro‐B‐Type Natriuretic Peptide and Phonocardiography in Differentiating Innocent Cardiac Murmurs from Congenital Cardiac Anomalies in Asymptomatic Puppies

BACKGROUND: Differentiating innocent cardiac murmurs from murmurs caused by congenital cardiac anomalies can be challenging with auscultation alone in asymptomatic puppies. HYPOTHESIS: Plasma N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) concentrations and phonocardiograms recorded by an electronic stethoscope can differentiate innocent from pathologic cardiac murmurs. ANIMALS: A total of 186 client‐owned asymptomatic dogs: 135 Cairn Terriers (age: 45–124 days), 20 adult Cairn Terriers (age: 7.5 months to 13.5 years), and 31 puppies of various breeds (age: 29–396 days). METHODS: Study design is a cross‐sectional survey. Each dog was auscultated, and when a cardiac murmur was heard, a phonocardiogram was recorded and an echocardiogram was performed. Plasma NT‐proBNP concentrations were measured by a single laboratory by an ELISA. RESULTS: No significant (P = .41) difference in plasma NT‐proBNP levels was found between puppies without a murmur and puppies with an innocent murmur (median 300 versus 326 pmol/L), and between clinically healthy adult Cairn Terriers and Cairn Terrier puppies. Plasma NT‐proBNP levels in puppies with a congenital heart disease were significantly (P < .001) higher than those in puppies with innocent murmurs (median 1,102 versus 326 pmol/L). However, some puppies with severe pulmonic stenosis did not have increased plasma NT‐proBNP levels. On phonocardiograms, innocent murmurs had a significantly (P < .001) shorter “murmur‐to‐systole duration ratio” than the abnormal ones (median 66 versus 100%). The “murmur‐to‐S1 (first cardiac sound) amplitude ratio” was significantly (P < .001) lower of the innocent murmurs compared with that of the abnormal ones (median 16 versus 58 %). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Plasma NT‐proBNP concentrations within the reference range do not rule out a congenital cardiac anomaly. Murmurs longer than 80% of the systole are most likely abnormal, whereas murmurs shorter than that could be either innocent or pathologic.