Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the second most common cause of heart disease in dogs, and medical management of the secondary signs is the only therapeutic option. The outcome for affected dogs depends on the stage of disease and the breed. Once diagnosed, dogs typically exhibit rapid and uniform progression to congestive heart failure (CHF), with most living less than 6 months.
To date, 12 dogs have been screened for enrollment in this study, five dogs have undergone treatment (enrolled), one dog had a fatal arrhythmia while waiting for vector antibody titer results to determine if she was an appropriate candidate to enroll and six dogs have had vector antibody titers too high to safely treat. Data collection is therefore underway and as more dogs are treated interim statistical analysis will be performed to evaluate benefit or negative impact of treatment. We continue to advertise the clinical trial by various methods.
End-Year-6 Research Update Dr. Sleeper gene therapy for DCM.
