Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood pressure and kidney ultrasound in cats with feline
By Taffin, Elien Rl et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2017·1 Department of Small Animal Medicine and Clinical Biology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Systolic blood pressure, routine kidney variables and renal ultrasonographic findings in cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) showed signs of protein in their urine, which can indicate kidney issues. Researchers found that these FIV-positive cats had lower blood pressure and more frequent proteinuria compared to healthy cats. While many of the FIV-infected cats had abnormalities in their kidneys seen on ultrasound, hypertension was not a common cause of their kidney problems. This suggests that while FIV can lead to kidney issues, the relationship is different than in humans.
People also search for: cat protein in urine FIV · feline immunodeficiency virus kidney problems · cat kidney ultrasound results
Abstract
Objectives Hypertension is a common cause of proteinuria in HIV-infected people. In cats, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection appears to be associated with proteinuria. Therefore, the results from systolic blood pressure (SBP) measurements in naturally infected FIV-positive cats were reviewed to assess whether hypertension contributes to the observed proteinuria in these cats. Ultrasonographic findings in FIV-positive cats were reviewed to complete renal assessment and to extend the scant knowledge on renal ultrasonography in cats. Methods Data from client-owned, naturally infected FIV-positive cats were retrospectively reviewed. To obtain a control group, records were reviewed from age-matched, privately owned, FIV-negative cats. Results Data from 91 FIV-infected and 113 control cats were compared. FIV-infected cats showed a significantly lower SBP ( P <0.0001) and significantly fewer FIV-infected cats were hypertensive (⩾160 mmHg) compared with control cats ( P = 0.025). The prevalence of renal azotaemia did not significantly differ between groups, although FIV-infected cats had significantly lower urine specific gravity (USG) ( P = 0.0273) and a higher incidence of USG below 1.035 ( P = 0.043). Urinary protein:creatinine ratio (UPC) was significantly higher in FIV-infected cats ( P = 0.0005) and proteinuria (UPC >0.4) occurred more frequently in FIV-infected cats ( P <0.001). Renal ultrasonography showed abnormalities in 60/91 FIV-infected cats, with hyperechogenic cortices in 39/91 and enlarged kidneys in 31/91. Conclusions and relevance Hypertension can be excluded as a common cause of renal damage leading to proteinuria in FIV-infected cats. Proteinuria and poorly concentrated urine are common in naturally infected FIV-positive cats, in contrast to azotaemia. Clinicians should cautiously interpret ultrasonographic abnormalities as these occur in over half of FIV-infected cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27307141/