Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
QT and QRS heart rhythm differences in healthy cats and cats
By Bastos, Rodrigo Franco et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2023·Department of Veterinary Medicine, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: QT interval instability and QRS interval dispersion in healthy cats and cats with a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenotype.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a common heart disease, showed signs of heart rhythm instability during electrocardiogram (ECG) tests. The study found that certain measurements, like the QT interval and QRS duration, were significantly longer in cats with HCM compared to healthy cats. These measurements can help veterinarians identify HCM early, as cats with specific values had a higher risk of developing the disease. This information could be useful for pet owners to discuss with their vet if they notice any signs of heart problems in their cats.
People also search for: cat heart disease symptoms · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats · cat ECG results interpretation
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common heart disease in cats. Electrocardiographic (ECG) analysis can help with the diagnosis of HCM and also in the investigation of the secondary consequences of the disease. This study investigated ECG markers of QT interval variability (total instability [TI], short-term instability [STI], long-term instability [LTI], QT variance [QTv]), mean QT interval (QTa) and QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTac), as well as the duration (QRSd) and dispersion (QRSv) of the QRS interval in healthy cats and in those with HCM. METHODS: Data were collected from 63 domestic cats: 40 in the control group and 23 in the HCM group. Fifty consecutive QT intervals were recorded for all cats and then QTa, QTac, QTv, TI, LTI and STI were calculated. QRSd and QRSv were also obtained for all animals. A Mann-Whitney U-test was used for group comparison. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of all markers for HCM. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the risks of cats having HCM, based on the studied indexes. RESULTS: QTa (<0.01), QTac (<0.01), QRSd (<0.01) and STI ( = 0.02) were higher in the HCM group. QTa >158.8 ms, QTac >27.4 ms and QRSd >0.045 s had an accuracy of 77.4%, 68.2% and 80.9%, respectively, in detecting HCM. Logistic regression showed that cats with QTa >158 ms, QTac >27.4 ms and QRSd >0.045 s had a 1.58-, 1,23- and 6.5-fold higher risk, respectively, of developing HCM. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Cats with HCM had higher ventricular instability as assessed by STI and showed a prolongation of the QT and QRS intervals via the QTa, QTac and QRSd markers. These markers show potential as ancillary screening tools for identifying the presence of HCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36745542/