Clinical and echocardiographic variables associated with the type of congestive heart failure manifestation in cats.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine clinical and echocardiographic findings associated with congestive heart failure (CHF) manifestation type in cats and to assess impact on the risk of CHF recurrence and survival. ANIMALS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective medical record review of 135 cats with CHF was conducted. Cats were grouped based on CHF manifestation type. Associations between CHF manifestation and clinical and echocardiographic variables were assessed using a Fisher's test and analysis of variance. Comparisons between CHF manifestations were performed using a pairwise Fisher's test with Bonferroni-Holm adjustment and Tukey's honestly significant difference method after analysis of variance. RESULTS: Congestive heart failure manifestation was associated with sex (P=0.045), history of increased respiratory rate (P=0.006), effort (P=0.001), and signs of arterial thromboembolism (P=0.004). Significant differences between left atrium-to-aorta ratio (P=0.043), diastolic right ventricular internal dimension (P=0.001), systolic right ventricular internal dimension (P=0.015), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (P=0.044), and presence of non-specific cardiomyopathy phenotype (P=0.001) were identified among CHF groups. Cats with ascites as their CHF manifestation had significantly higher median diastolic right ventricular internal dimension (9.9 mm) and systolic right ventricular internal dimension (6.6 mm) on pairwise comparison than cats with other CHF manifestations. Congestive heart failure manifestation did not have a statistically significant association with survival but did with time to CHF recurrence (P=0.008). STUDY LIMITATIONS: Retrospective design, small sample size, and potential misclassification of CHF manifestation type are limitations of this study. CONCLUSIONS: Congestive heart failure manifestation type is associated with various clinical and echocardiographic findings in cats with heart disease.