Cardiovascular images: parachute mitral valve in a cat

A six-month-old intact female domestic shorthair cat was presented to the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center for further evaluation of a heart murmur. On echocardiography, a large, left-to-right shunting ventricular septal defect was identified. There was evidence of severe left heart volume overload, increased pulmonary artery flow and tricuspid regurgitation velocities, mild mitral regurgitation, and left-sided congestive heart failure. The presence of relative pulmonary stenosis, pulmonary hypertension, and a mitral valve malformation were suspected, but further echocardiographic characterization was not attempted at the time due to the fractious nature of the cat. The cat presented a month later for pulmonary artery banding as palliative treatment for the ventricular septal defect. On subsequent recheck echocardiograms, four weeks and three months later, the presence of mitral valve dysplasia with a parachute mitral valve was observed.