Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Heart muscle function changes in cats with hidden hypertrophic
By Suzuki, Ryohei et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2019·Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Layer-specific myocardial function in asymptomatic cats with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy assessed using 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 10 healthy cats and 10 cats with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were studied to understand heart function better. Even though the cats with HCM showed no symptoms, tests revealed that their heart muscle function was different from the healthy cats. Specifically, the heart muscle layers in the HCM cats had lower strain measurements, indicating potential issues that might not be visible through standard heart tests. This suggests that even asymptomatic cats with HCM may have underlying heart problems that could require monitoring or treatment in the future.
People also search for: cat heart disease symptoms · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats · cat heart function tests
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a primary disorder of the myocardium, is the most common cardiac disease in cats. However, determination of layer-specific myocardial function with 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography in cats with asymptomatic HCM has not yet been reported. OBJECTIVES: To quantitatively measure layer-specific myocardial function of asymptomatic cats with HCM. ANIMALS: Ten client-owned, asymptomatic cats with obstructive HCM and 13 healthy cats. METHODS: A retrospective, case-control study. Cats underwent assessment of layer-specific myocardial function (whole, endocardial, and epicardial) in the longitudinal and circumferential directions by using 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography. RESULTS: Longitudinal strains were significantly lower in cats with HCM than controls in the whole (-15.5% vs -19.1%), endocardial (-18.3% vs -21.8%), and epicardial (-13.1% vs -16.8%) layers. Circumferential strains in whole and epicardial layers also were significantly lower in cats with HCM as compared with controls (-15.0% vs -20.2% and - 4.4% vs -9.4%, respectively). However, no significant difference was found between cats with HCM and controls in the global circumferential strain in the endocardial layer (-31.2% vs -34.2%). The circumferential endocardial-to-epicardial strain ratio was significantly higher in cats with HCM than in controls (6.1 vs 3.5). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Layer-specific myocardial function assessed by 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography differed in asymptomatic cats with obstructive HCM compared to controls despite their apparently normal systolic function, as determined by conventional echocardiography. The maintained endocardial circumferential strain and higher circumferential endocardial-to-epicardial strain ratio may reflect compensation for occult systolic dysfunction in cats with obstructive HCM.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30499128/