Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
NT-proANP blood levels linked to survival in cats with heart disease
By Zimmering, Tanja M et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2010·Small Animal Hospital, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of the association between plasma concentration of N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide and outcome in cats with cardiomyopathy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 51 cats with heart disease (cardiomyopathy) was studied to see if a blood test measuring a specific protein (NT-proANP) could help predict how long they might live. The results showed that cats with more severe heart disease had higher levels of this protein, but the test didn't reliably predict survival time. The researchers found that the size of the left atrium in relation to the aorta was a better indicator of how long the cats might survive. Overall, while the NT-proANP test could help identify cats with heart disease, it wasn't a good predictor of how long they would live.
People also search for: cat heart disease symptoms · NT-proANP test for cats · how long do cats live with cardiomyopathy
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether plasma N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide (NT-proANP) concentration could predict the outcome (survival duration) of cats with cardiomyopathy (CM). DESIGN: Case-control study. ANIMALS: 51 cats with CM (25 with and 26 without congestive heart failure [CHF]) and 17 healthy cats. PROCEDURES: Cats were thoroughly examined and assigned to 1 of 3 groups (control, CM with CHF, and CM alone). Plasma NT-proANP concentrations were measured by use of a human proANP(1-98) ELISA. Survival durations were compared between CM groups. RESULTS: Plasma NT-proANP concentrations differed significantly among the 3 groups, and survival durations differed significantly between the 2 CM groups. Median (range) NT-proANP concentration was 413 fmol/mL (52 to 940 fmol/mL) in the control group, 1,254 fmol/mL (167 to 2,818 fmol/mL) in the CM alone group, and 3,208 fmol/mL (1,189 to 15,462 fmol/mL) in the CM with CHF group. At a cutoff of 517 fmol/mL, NT-proANP concentration had a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 82% for detecting CM. Multivariate analysis revealed that only the variable left atrium-to-aortic diameter ratio was a significant predictor of survival duration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Plasma NT-proANP concentration may have potential as a testing marker for distinguishing healthy cats from cats with CM. It may also be useful for distinguishing CM cats with CHF from those without CHF The value of NT-proANP concentration as a predictor of survival duration was not supported in this study and requires further evaluation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20839988/