Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Chylothorax linked to right heart failure in five cats
By Fossum, T W et al.Ā·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical AssociationĀ·1994Ā·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, United StatesĀ·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Chylothorax associated with right-sided heart failure in five cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Five cats were diagnosed with chylothorax, a condition where fluid builds up in the chest, due to right-sided heart failure. Symptoms included swollen neck veins, and tests showed various heart issues, including tumors and congenital defects. One cat had surgery to remove part of the pericardium (the heart's outer layer), which resolved the fluid buildup, while the others were treated with medications that helped reduce the fluid temporarily. These treatments aimed to manage the heart problems and improve the cats' overall health.
People also search for: cat chylothorax treatment Ā· cat heart failure symptoms Ā· cat fluid in chest treatment
Abstract
Chylothorax associated with right-sided congestive heart failure was diagnosed in 5 cats. One cat had restrictive pericardial disease, with mild pericardial effusion, and a heart-base chemodectoma. Two other cats had congestive cardiac disease (tetralogy of Fallot and tricuspid regurgitation in 1 cat, and endocardial cushion defect and tricuspid dysplasia in the other), and 2 cats had idiopathic cardiomyopathy. All cats had jugular venous distention, and echocardiographic evaluation helped define the nature of the cardiac disease in these cats. Subtotal pericardiectomy resulted in resolution of the chylothorax in the cat with the heart-base tumor, whereas medical management of the right-sided heart failure temporarily decreased pleural effusion in the cat with tetralogy of Fallot and in the 2 cats with cardiomyopathy.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8125826/