Golden Retrievers and Heart Disease

The major inherited heart disease of Golden Retrievers is believed to be subvalvular aortic stenosis (SAS) although arrythmias, which may or may not be inherited, are seen in a similar percentage of Goldens. The most recent Golden Retriever breed health survey was conducted in 1998-1999 (Glickman et al, online), involved 1444 Golden retrievers owned by 746 people and indicated that of the 152 Goldens with heart conditions reported in the survey, 11.6% of these were diagnosed with SAS and 12.2% were diagnosed with arrythmias. The prevalence of another developmental heart disorder, cardiomyopathy, was half the prevalence of SAS. These statistics probably greatly under-report the actual disease prevalence as some of the heart conditions of Goldens, such as SAS, are difficult to diagnose. OFA maintains a registry and database of heart diseases in dogs and this database indicates that cardiac examinations have been equivocal in 0.8% of Goldens with 0.5% of Golden Retrievers affected (OFA, breed statistics of heart disease).

The actual prevalence of congenital heart disease is probably much higher as many owners do not submit reports from affected Goldens to OFA. Since OFA accumulates data such as the table above on elbow dysplasia, even from dogs in the closed registry, and future studies may be linked with DNA, owners are strongly encouraged to submit both positive and negative reports. (As mentioned previously, there is no charge to submit affected dogs.) While it is the owner's decision whether to include the data in the open or closed database, both databases can provide useful information. The open database reveals your dog's identity to all breeders but even the closed database can provide useful population data to future breeders. A study from the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine indicates that Golden Retrievers have a 5.5 fold increased risk of SAS relative to dogs in general (Kienle et al, 1994).