About the EPIC Study

Breaking new ground in canine heart health

It is estimated that 1 dog in 10 suffers from some type of heart disease.¹ The statistics for valvular heart disease are even more sobering, ranging from 10 percent of young dogs to as high as 35 percent of dogs ages 13 years and older.² Although there are a number of treatment options for dogs with CHF caused by MMVD, there had been no consensus on what treatments could be beneficial in the preclinical stage of heart disease.³

The EPIC (Evaluation of Pimobendan In dogs with Cardiomegaly) Study marks the largest veterinary cardiology study in history. This groundbreaking study sought to answer a key question: Can pimobendan—with proven efficacy in treating dogs with congestive heart failure (CHF) caused by myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD)—also delay the onset of CHF caused by MMVD?

EPIC examined dogs with stage B2 MMVD and echocardiographic and radiographic evidence of cardiac enlargement to determine whether long-term administration of pimobendan could delay onset of CHF, cardiac-related death, or euthanasia. The study, which began in 2010 and ran through 2015, included investigators at 36 study centres in 11 nations across 4 continents. Investigators were held to rigorous scientific standards, and an independent team compiled and reported the findings.³