Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How ECG helps diagnose and predict heart thickening in cats
By Romito, G et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2018·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnostic and prognostic utility of surface electrocardiography in cats with left ventricular hypertrophy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 35 cats with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), a condition that can lead to heart problems, was studied to see if electrocardiography (ECG) could help diagnose and predict their health outcomes. The researchers found that certain ECG measurements, particularly the QT interval, could indicate LVH and help estimate survival time. Cats with longer QT intervals had a shorter average survival time, while those with normal QT intervals had a better prognosis. This suggests that monitoring these ECG parameters can be valuable for managing cats with heart issues.
People also search for: cat heart problems · cat ECG results · left ventricular hypertrophy in cats · cat arrhythmia treatment · cat survival time with heart disease
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the ability of electrocardiography (ECG) to predict left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in the cat and to investigate the prognostic value of selected ECG variables in cats with LVH. ANIMALS: Fifty-seven privately owned cats: 22 clinically healthy cats and 35 cats with LVH. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a clinical cohort study. Echocardiographic diagnosis and surface ECG were available. Electrocardiography analysis included rhythm diagnosis and specific electrocardiographic measurements. In cats with LVH, cause of death and outcome data were recorded and analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS: The presence of arrhythmia had sensitivity and specificity of 31% and 100%, respectively, for identifying LVH. Among ECG measurements, duration of QT interval (QT) and QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc) was statistically different between healthy cats and cats with LVH (p = 0.007). Overall, the most accurate cutoffs to identify LVH were QT > 170 ms (sensitivity and specificity 48.3% and 91%, respectively) and QTc > 188 ms (sensitivity and specificity 62% and 77%, respectively). In healthy cats, the highest QT and QTc values were 180 ms and 200 ms, respectively. Mean survival time was 58 days and indeterminable for cats with QT > 180 ms and QT ≤ 180 ms, respectively (p = 0.042) and 125 days and indeterminable for cats with QTc > 200 ms and QTc ≤ 200 ms, respectively (p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Arrhythmias as well as prolonged QT and QTc are useful ECG parameters in identifying LVH and predicting survival in affected cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30082249/