Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Aortic heart movement is lower in cats with thick heart muscle disease
By Dutton, Luke C et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2024·Department of Veterinary Medicine, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Aortic annular plane systolic excursion in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart condition that can cause thickening of the heart muscle, were studied to see how well their hearts were functioning. Researchers found that the measurement of aortic annular plane systolic excursion (AAPSE), which reflects heart function, was significantly lower in cats with HCM compared to healthy cats. Specifically, cats in the more severe stage C of HCM had the lowest AAPSE readings. This suggests that AAPSE could be a useful tool for veterinarians to assess heart function in cats with HCM, helping them to better manage the condition.
People also search for: cat heart disease symptoms · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats · cat heart function test · what is AAPSE in cats
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Impairment of left ventricular (LV) longitudinal function is an early marker of systolic dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Aortic annular plane systolic excursion (AAPSE) is a measure of LV longitudinal function in people that has not been evaluated in cats. HYPOTHESIS: Aortic annular plane systolic excursion is lower in cats with HCM compared to control cats, and cats in stage C have the lowest AAPSE. ANIMALS: One hundred seventy-five cats: 60 normal, 61 HCM stage B and 54 HCM stage C cats. MATERIALS: Multicenter retrospective case-control study. Electronic medical records from 4 referral hospitals were reviewed for cats diagnosed with HCM and normal cats. HCM was defined as LV wall thickness ≥6 mm and normal cats ≤5 mm. M-mode bisecting the aorta in right parasternal short-axis view was used to measure AAPSE. RESULTS: Aortic annular plane systolic excursion was lower in HCM cats compared to normal cats (3.9 ± 0.9 mm versus 4.6 ± 0.9 mm, P < .001) and was lowest in HCM stage C (2.4 ± 0.6 mm, P < .001). An AAPSE <2.9 mm gave a sensitivity of 83% (95% CI 71%-91%) and specificity of 92% (95% CI 82%-97%) to differentiate HCM stage C from stage B. AAPSE correlated with mitral annular plane systolic excursion (r = .6 [.4-.7], P < .001), and atrial fractional shortening (r = .6 [.5-.7], P < .001), but showed no correlation with LV fractional shortening. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Aortic annular plane systolic excursion is an easily acquired echocardiographic variable and might be a new measurement of LV systolic performance in cats with HCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38038190/