Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Heart relaxation problems in cats with thickened heart muscle disease
By Bright, J M et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·1999·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Pulsed Doppler assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in normal and cardiomyopathic cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 16 cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart condition that can cause breathing problems and lethargy, had their heart function assessed using a special ultrasound technique called pulsed Doppler. The results showed that these cats had slower blood flow into the heart and longer times for the heart to relax compared to 12 healthy cats. This study suggests that pulsed Doppler is a useful tool for veterinarians to evaluate heart function in cats with HCM. Identifying these issues early can help in managing the condition and improving the cat's quality of life.
Abstract
Left ventricular (LV) diastolic function was evaluated in 16 cats with primary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) using pulsed Doppler (PD) assessment of transmitral flow and isovolumic relaxation time. Data obtained was compared to data from 12 healthy, adult, research cats. Compared to normal cats, the HCM group showed significantly (p value less than 0.05) reduced early LV inflow velocities (mean +/- standard error [SE], peak velocity of 0.70+/-0.04 m/s versus 0.54+/-0.04 m/s and integrated velocity of 0.48+/-0.08 m/s versus 0.37+/-0.03 m/s); a reduced rate of deceleration of early inflow (mean+/-SE, -12.0+/-1.0 m/s2 versus -5.1+/-1.1 m/s2); prolonged isovolumic relaxation time (mean +/- SE, 45.7+/-3.3 ms versus 76.0+/-3.1 ms); and increased atrial systolic flow velocities (mean +/- SE, peak velocity of 0.29+/-0.04 m/s versus 0.48+/-0.04 m/s and integrated velocity of 0.21+/-0.03 m/s versus 0.34+/-0.03 m/s). The results suggest that PD provides a noninvasive method of identifying and quantifying functional diastolic impairment in cats with HCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10416771/