ANALYSIS OF RISK-FACTORS FOR GASTRIC DILATATION AND DILATATION-VOLVULUS IN DOGS

The Veterinary Medical Data Base was wed to conduct an epidemiologic s tudy of gastric dilatation and dilatation-volvulus (GDv) to describe c hanges over rime in frequency of canine hospital admissions, to identi fy risk factors, and to estimate their relative importance. Cases in t his case-control study included 1,934 dogs with GDv that were admitted to 12 participating veterinary hospitals from 1980 to 1989. The contr ols were 3,868 dogs with other diagnoses that were randomly selected f rom the same hospitals. Frequency of GDv per 1,000 canine hospital adm issions ranged from 2.9 to 6.8. The case fatality rate was 28.6 and 33 .3% for gastric dilatation alone and for gastric dilatation with volvu lus, respectively Using logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio ( OR) and its 95% confidence limits (95% CL) for GDv associated with pur ebred vs mixed-breed dogs were 2.5 and 2.1, 3.0, respectively. The ris k of GDV was associated with increasing age (X(2) = 305.6, P < 0.0001) and increasing weight (X(2) = 627.8, P < 0.0001). Significant associa tion of GDV risk with sex or neuter status was not found. The 5 breeds having at least 10 cases and 8 controls and with the highest risk of GDv were Great Dane (OR, 10.0; 95% CL, 6.4, 15.6), Weimaraner (OR, 4.6 ; 95% CL, 2.3, 9.2), Saint Bernard (OR, 4.2; 95% CL, 2.3, 7.4), Gordon Setter (OR, 4.1; 95% CL, 1.8, 9.3), and Irish Setter (OR, 3.5; 95% CL , 2.4, 5.0). The effect of increasing body weight on GDv risk was less than that of increasing ideal adult breed weight, determined by publi shed breed standards. There was considerable heterogeneity of GDv risk for individual breeds within ideal adult breed-weight groups. The ove rall pattern of risk was suggestive that, in addition to age, body wei ght, and neuter status, a dog's body (thoracic) conformation also was an important determinant of susceptibility to GDv.