Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Sudden death in two cats linked to fatty heart disease
By Parisi, F et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2020·Department of Veterinary Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Adipositas Cordis in Two Cats with Sudden Death.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Two cats died suddenly, and a closer examination revealed they both had a rare heart condition called adipositas cordis, which involves an unusual buildup of fat in the heart muscle without any signs of damage or inflammation. This condition can be hard to diagnose, but in these cases, the cats showed signs of acute heart failure due to the excess fat, particularly in the right side of their hearts. Unfortunately, there are no specific treatments for this condition, and it highlights the importance of considering rare heart issues when a cat passes away unexpectedly.
People also search for: cat sudden death causes · feline heart problems symptoms · adipositas cordis in cats
Abstract
Adipositas cordis (AC) is a rare cardiomyopathy characterized by fatty infiltration of the myocardium without signs of tissue destruction or inflammation. Its diagnosis is challenging and requires histopathological examination. This study describes such cardiomyopathy in two cats that died suddenly. In both cases, anatomopathological examination showed gross lesions indicative of acute heart failure, associated with an increase in subepicardial fat, particularly in the right ventricle. Microscopically, there was an increased amount of subepicardial and intramyocardial adipose tissue in the right ventricular free wall, without signs of cellular degeneration, inflammatory infiltration, necrosis or fibrosis, confirmed by histochemical staining. AC is a rare cardiac pathology, but it should be taken into consideration in feline medicine when a sudden death occurs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32359629/