Evaluation of Pulse Pressure as a Hemodynamic Marker of Cardiac Disease in Dogs and Horses Undergoing Pre-Anesthetic Assessment

Pulse pressure (PP) reflects ventricular stroke volume and arterial compliance, but its utility as a marker of cardiac disease in animals is not well established. This study evaluated the association between PP and echocardiographically confirmed cardiac abnormalities in dogs and horses and assessed its potential in pre-anesthetic evaluation. Clinical and echocardiography examination of 20 dogs and 20 horses was sufficient for inter-group comparisons and assignments to a Cardiac group (echocardiographically confirmed cardiac disease) or a Control group (healthy animals). Non-invasive oscillometric blood pressure was measured, and PP was calculated. Animals with cardiac abnormalities showed significantly higher PP but not mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) compared with healthy subjects. In horses, PP was approximately 22 mmHg higher in the Cardiac group (<i>p</i> = 0.042), while in dogs, the increase was 25 mmHg (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Regression analysis confirmed cardiac status as an independent predictor of elevated PP (<i>p</i> = 0.001) with excellent and good discriminatory performance between healthy and diseased dogs (AUC = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.77-1.00) and healthy and diseased horses (AUC = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.61-1.00), respectively. These results suggest that PP may serve as a sensitive and practical hemodynamic indicator of underlying cardiac disease.