Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Valentine heart shape on cat X-rays linked to heart enlargement
By Winter, Matthew D et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2015·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Associations between 'valentine' heart shape, atrial enlargement and cardiomyopathy in cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with heart issues was studied to see if a specific heart shape, known as the "valentine" shape, was linked to heart disease. Out of 41 cats examined, 82% had some form of cardiomyopathy (a disease of the heart muscle). The "valentine" heart shape was found in 41% of the cats with heart disease but only in 8% of those with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), indicating that while this heart shape can signal heart problems, it is not strongly associated with HCM specifically. This suggests that pet owners should be aware of the "valentine" shape as a potential sign of heart disease in cats.
People also search for: cat heart disease symptoms · valentine heart shape in cats · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats · cat cardiomyopathy treatment
Abstract
'Valentine' heart shape is a common qualifier used in veterinary radiology to describe a cardiac silhouette with focal enlargement at the level of the base of the heart in feline patients. Anecdotally, this sign has been thought to be related to biatrial enlargement and also to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, to our knowledge, there has been no study performed to assess the association between cardiac chamber enlargement and cardiac disease with the 'valentine'-shaped heart. The aim of this study was to verify the association between the 'valentine' heart shape observed in ventrodorsal thoracic radiographs and the presence of singular or combined cardiac chamber enlargement, and also the presence and type of cardiomyopathy (CM) in cats. A search of the database of the Small Animal Veterinary Hospital of the University of Florida for cats with a radiology report of thoracic radiographs that contained the words 'valentine' and 'biatrial', and echocardiography performed within 1 week, was undertaken; 41 cases met the inclusion criteria. Eighty-two percent of the cats of the study sample had some form of CM. The 'valentine' heart shape was associated with biatrial enlargement in 41% of the patients in our study sample that had some form of CM and just 8% of cases diagnosed with HCM, suggesting that the 'valentine' heart shape has a low association with HCM or biatrial enlargement; however, it should be considered a sign of feline CM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25146363/