Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Left atrial size and function linked to heart changes in cats
By Colakoglu, E et al.·Published in Polish journal of veterinary sciences·2024·Department of Internal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Assessment of left atrial size, left atrial volume and left ventricular function, and its relation to spontaneous echocardiographic contrast in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A preliminary study.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart condition, were examined to see how their heart's left atrial size and function related to a specific type of blood flow pattern called spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (SEC). The study found that cats with HCM and SEC had lower heart function measurements compared to healthy cats and those with HCM without SEC. This suggests that monitoring these heart function measurements could help predict the risk of blood clots in cats with HCM. More research is needed to better understand these findings and their implications for treatment.
People also search for: cat heart disease symptoms · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats · cat blood clot risk · echocardiogram results in cats
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (SEC) and left atrial (LA) parameters such as size, volume, and function in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Cats were assigned into following groups: clinically healthy cats (n=8), HCM without SEC (n=12), and HCM with SEC (n=8). Left atrial shortening fraction (LAFS%) and left atrial fractional area change (LAFAC) had statistical significance between groups. In conclusion, compared to the healthy individuals, the presence of a decreased trend in levels of LAFS% and LAFAC in HCMSEC cats could be a predictive marker for the thromboembolic risk assessment. Further studies enrolling the asymptomatic HCM cats need to be conducted to define a cut-off value of LAFS% and LAFAC before the SEC formation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39736131/