Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Early signs of heart muscle problems in a cat with restrictive
By Saito, Takahiro et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2021·School of Veterinary Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Early detection of myocardial dysfunction in a cat that gradually progressed to endomyocardial form of restrictive cardiomyopathy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old male Domestic Shorthair cat was brought in because a heart murmur was detected during a routine check-up. Tests showed some unusual heart structures and changes in how the heart was functioning, but initially, the cat seemed healthy. Over time, the cat developed signs of heart failure, including fluid in the lungs and an enlarged heart. The diagnosis was endomyocardial restrictive cardiomyopathy, a serious heart condition. Regular monitoring and advanced imaging techniques helped identify the heart issues early, which is crucial for managing this type of heart disease in cats.
People also search for: cat heart murmur · cat heart failure symptoms · restrictive cardiomyopathy in cats · cat pulmonary edema treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) is a common myocardial disease in cats, characterized by diastolic dysfunction and atrial enlargement without myocardial hypertrophy. Especially, endomyocardial form of RCM, one of the subtypes in RCM, is characterized by endocardial fibrosis, endocardial scar bridging the interventricular septum and left ventricular (LV) free wall, and deformation and distortion of the LV. However, it is unclear how the myocardial dysfunction and the endocardial scar contribute to the pathophysiology of RCM disease progression. CASE PRESENTATION: A 3 years and 2 months old, intact male, Domestic shorthaired cat was presented for consultation of cardiac murmur. At the first visit (day 0), the notable abnormal finding was echocardiography-derived chordae tendineae-like structure bridging the interventricular septum and the LV free wall, resulting high-speed blood flow in the left ventricle. Electrocardiography, thoracic radiography and noninvasive blood pressure measurements were normal. No left atrial enlargement was observed, and LV inflow velocity showed an abnormal relaxation pattern. Although there was no abnormality in tissue Doppler imaging-derived myocardial velocity, two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) revealed a decrease in the LV longitudinal strain and an increase in endocardial to epicardial ratio of the LV circumferential strain on day 0. On day 468, obvious left atrium enlargement and smoke like echo in the left atrium were observed. The LV inflow velocity was fused, and the tissue Doppler imaging-derived early-diastolic myocardial velocity of the septal mitral annulus decreased. Regarding 2D-STE, LV circumferential strain was further decreased, and right ventricular strain was additionally decreased. Although the general condition was good, we made a clinical diagnosis of endomyocardial RCM based on the above findings. On day 503, the cat showed the radiographic evidence of pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure signs. CONCLUSIONS: Cats with abnormal LV structure and associated myocardial dysfunction like this case needs careful observation. Additionally, 2D-STE indices may be useful for early detection of myocardial dysfunction in feline RCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34391430/