As part of the Blog, I would also like to share some of the different articles on disease conditions that come across our desk. This way you are informed as to the most recent developments regarding your pet's health. It is likely that not all of them will apply to you now, but they might, and certainly some of the medical conditions and disease information are similar to humans also.
So with that, today, I wanted to share some information I learned about a new heart drug called Pimobenden (Vetmedin by Boehringer Ingelheim). It was recently approved in the US for dogs with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). You may see this in humans soon, from what the representative told us.
Let me back up and give a thumbnail sketch of what is happening in 'CHF'. This condition occurs when the heart muscle can not efficiently pump blood properly through the body. What then happens depends on the species. In dogs, the 'fluid' builds up in the lungs, and what we notice at home is the dog coughs either at night, or when excited or exercising a lot.
The therapy for such a patient today starts with two medications: Furosimide & Enalapril.
Furosimide drug name for Lasix, used in human medicine. We use it in our dogs to reduce the amount of fluid in the 'body' and make it easier for the heart to pump the blood around the body.
Enalapril is the drug name for Vasotec in human medicine. In dogs, it is used to reduce the 'blood pressure' that the heart has to pump against, thus making it easier for the heart to work.
This new drug, Pimobenden, is called an 'inodilator'. That means it also has some pressure reducing properties and some 'positive inotrope' mechanisms as well. A 'positive inotrope' is a medicine that helps the heart to pump more effectively.
This is just a brief overview, and I am leaving a lot of detail out. If you are interested in more, let me know and I can do so in a future Blog. But what is the take home lesson on this? How will the medicine be used? What do veterinary cardiologists - who aren't on the company payroll - how do they use the drug?
One cardiologist presentation I was at in Champaign last month used it this way, as a 'rescue' drug. When the patient was starting to have trouble because the lasix and enalapril was not helping as much any more. He said he was able to get good quality of life for about 75% of his patients for 2-6 months time. In the heart failure disease, that is a good response. He was asked if he used it during initial treatment of CHF with dogs. He said at this time, there is not a lot of evidence yet to show whether or not we get better quality of life, or prolonged quality of life. But the drug is still new to veterinary medicine, and that may change.
But Pimobenden does give us another tool in our arsenal for treating dogs with Congestive heart Failure.
