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Echocardiographic Assessment of Right Ventricular Size and Function in Cats With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
L C Visser1, C Q Sloan1, J A Stern1
1Department of Medicine & Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA.
Insights
Right ventricular abnormalities are present in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and worsen with congestive heart failure (CHF). Echocardiography can detect these feline heart changes.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Cardiology
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Feline Medicine
Background:
- Limited studies exist on right ventricular (RV) structural and functional abnormalities in feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
- Understanding RV involvement is crucial for managing feline HCM.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate RV structural and functional abnormalities in cats with HCM.
- To determine if these abnormalities correlate with clinical severity.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective 2D echocardiographic study of 81 cats (26 controls, 31 subclinical HCM, 24 HCM + CHF).
- Measured parameters included RV size (RAD, RVFWd, RVIDd) and function (FAC, TAPSE).
Main Results:
- Cats with HCM and congestive heart failure (CHF) showed significantly increased RV size and decreased RV function compared to controls.
- Subclinical HCM cats had increased RV free wall thickness.
- Pleural effusion in HCM cats was associated with RV abnormalities.
Conclusions:
- Right ventricular remodeling and dysfunction occur in some cats with HCM.
- These findings suggest RV involvement in HCM pathophysiology and support echocardiographic assessment of the RV in affected cats.
Background:
Studies evaluating right ventricular (RV) structural and functional abnormalities in feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are limited.
Hypothesis:
Right ventricular structural and functional abnormalities are present in cats with HCM and are associated with clinical severity.
Animals:
Eighty-one client-owned cats.
Methods:
Retrospective 2-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic study. Right atrial diameter (RAD), RV free wall thickness (RVFWd), RV internal dimension (RVIDd), RV fractional area change (FAC), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) were measured in control cats (n = 26), cats with subclinical HCM (subclinical HCM; n = 31), and cats with HCM and congestive heart failure (HCM + CHF; n = 24).
Results:
Right heart size (RAD, RVFWd, and RVIDd) and RV function (FAC and TAPSE) significantly (all P < .05) increased and decreased, respectively, in the HCM + CHF group compared with controls. In the subclinical HCM group, only RVFWd was significantly (P < .05) higher than in controls. Compared with reference intervals derived from controls, 29% of cats with HCM had increased RVFWd. Increased left ventricular free wall thickness, increased RVIDd and decreased TAPSE independently correlated with increased left atrial size. Cats with HCM and pleural effusion were significantly more likely to have increased RVFWd and had increased RAD and decreased TAPSE compared with cats without pleural effusion.
Conclusions And Clinical Importance:
Right ventricular remodeling and dysfunction occur in some cats with HCM and may be associated with clinical severity. Our results support involvement of RV in the pathophysiology of HCM in some cats and support echocardiographic assessment of the RV in cats with HCM.
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