Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Early heart muscle dysfunction found by Doppler in young Maine Coon
By Chetboul, Valerie et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2006·Cardiology Unit of Alfort National Veterinary School of Alfort, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Two-dimensional color tissue Doppler imaging detects myocardial dysfunction before occurrence of hypertrophy in a young Maine Coon cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 20-month-old male Maine Coon cat was evaluated for heart issues, even though he appeared healthy and had normal test results initially. However, advanced imaging techniques revealed early signs of heart muscle dysfunction, which can lead to a serious condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Unfortunately, a year later, the cat was diagnosed with HCM, and he passed away two months after that. This case highlights the importance of using advanced imaging to catch heart problems early in cats, potentially allowing for better management and care.
People also search for: Maine Coon cat heart problems · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats · early signs of cat heart disease
Abstract
A 20-month-old healthy male Maine Coon cat was referred for a cardiovascular evaluation. Physical examination and electrocardiogram were normal. The end-diastolic subaortic interventricular septal thickness (6 mm; reference range: < or = 6mm) and the mitral flow late diastolic velocity (0.89 m/s; reference range: 0.2-0.8m/s) were within the upper ranges. However, M-mode echocardiography did not reveal any sign of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) identified a marked left ventricular free wall dysfunction characterized by decreased myocardial velocities in early diastole, increased myocardial velocities in late diastole and the presence of postsystolic contractions both at the base and the apex for the longitudinal motion. One year later, the diagnosis of HCM was confirmed by conventional echocardiography and the cat died suddenly 2 months later. This report demonstrates for the first time in spontaneous HCM the sensitivity of TDI for early diagnosis of myocardial dysfunction and suggests that TDI should form part of the screening techniques for early diagnosis of feline HCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16700182/