{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T16:36:23Z","timestamp":1753893383181,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,7]],"date-time":"2025-04-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743984000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Early diagnosis of preclinical dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) remains challenging in primary veterinary medicine due to the need for echocardiography and 24-h Holter electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. A readily available pre-screening tool to identify dogs at high risk could optimize current screening practice. Electrocardiographic methods have not been investigated for this purpose. Vectorcardiographic septal-to-basal ventricular peak activation time (SB-VPAT) was investigated in a preliminary pilot study. We hypothesize that SB-VPAT is a sensitive parameter for detection of systolic dysfunction due to preclinical DCM stage B2 and correlates with left ventricular size and function in Doberman Pinschers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Animals<\/jats:title><jats:p>One hundred and twenty-two Doberman Pinschers (98 control and 24 with systolic dysfunction due to preclinical DCM).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Prospective cross-sectional study. All dogs underwent echocardiography, three-minute six or 12-lead ECG and RELF ECG. Based on echocardiographic evaluation, dogs were classified into a control group (including apparently healthy dogs and dogs with ventricular arrhythmia\u2019s only) or a group with systolic dysfunction associated with preclinical DCM stage B2. ROC curves of SB-VPAT and its correlation with left ventricular size and function were analyzed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>SB-VPAT \u226533.5\u202fms had a sensitivity of 94.4% and specificity of 83.6% for the detection of systolic dysfunction due to preclinical DCM stage B2 (AUC 0.954, SD 0.022). Furthermore, SB-VPAT was strongly correlated with the left ventricular systolic diameter, systolic volume index and moderately inversely correlated with EF.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions and clinical importance<\/jats:title><jats:p>In conclusion, SB-VPAT is a sensitive parameter to detect systolic dysfunction associated with preclinical DCM stage B2. Further investigation of its diagnostic potential compared to or in combination with other tools in a primary care veterinary setting is warranted.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2025.1582006","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,7]],"date-time":"2025-04-07T05:16:47Z","timestamp":1744003007000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Septal-to-basal ventricular peak activation time determined by vectorcardiography as a potential new pre-screening parameter for preclinical dilated cardiomyopathy in Doberman Pinschers"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Margot","family":"Gheeraert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gerhard","family":"Wess","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gitte","family":"Mampaey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jenny","family":"Eberhard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Gheeraert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jan","family":"De Pooter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luc","family":"Duchateau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pascale","family":"Smets","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"533","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1939-1676.2010.0479.x","article-title":"Prevalence of dilated cardiomyopathy in Doberman Pinschers in various age groups","volume":"24","author":"Wess","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Vet Intern Med"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1053\/tvjl.2001.0571","article-title":"Canine idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. 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