Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with fainting spells caused by abnormal heart rhythm and long QT
By Lee, S & Kittleson, M D·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2021·Seoul Animal Heart Hospital, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Naturally occurring torsades de pointes and QT interval prolongation in a domestic cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old male American Shorthair cat experienced fainting spells, which led to a visit to the vet. Tests showed he had a long QT interval and a dangerous heart rhythm called torsades de pointes (TdP). Initially, a medication called sotalol was tried, but it didn’t help with the heart issues. After switching to oral amiodarone and magnesium, the cat showed improvement and did not faint again for three months. Unfortunately, he later passed away from an unrelated illness.
People also search for: cat fainting spells treatment · long QT interval in cats · torsades de pointes cat symptoms
Abstract
A 10-year-old male American Shorthair cat was presented after a witnessed syncopal event. A Holter monitor demonstrated a long QT interval and revealed a rhythm characteristic of torsades de pointes (TdP) coincident with a bout of syncope. On subsequent Holter monitor recordings, sotalol did not prolong the QT interval further and did not reduce the severity of the underlying ventricular tachyarrhythmias, but no TdP was identified. When another syncopal event occurred, sotalol was discontinued, and oral amiodarone and magnesium were started. This resulted in improvement in the ventricular tachyarrhythmia. No syncopal events occurred in the ensuing 3 months, but the cat died of an unrelated disease shortly after. This is the first report of naturally occurring torsades de pointes in a domestic cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33812132/