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Excessive moderator bands in the left ventricle of 21 cats
Insights
Excessive moderator bands in cat hearts caused heart failure and death. This condition, characterized by abnormal bands entangling papillary muscles, led to severe clinical signs and pathological changes.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Cardiology
- Comparative Pathology
Background:
- Abnormal moderator bands in the left ventricle are a rare cardiac anomaly.
- Their association with severe clinical outcomes in cats has not been well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the clinical and pathological findings in cats with excessive moderator bands.
- To investigate the link between this anomaly and heart failure or death.
Main Methods:
- Case series review of 21 cats with excessive moderator bands.
- Analysis of clinical, electrocardiographic, angiocardiographic, and post-mortem findings.
- Comparison of heart weights with other cardiomyopathies and normal cats.
Main Results:
- Excessive moderator bands were associated with heart failure and death in 21 cats.
- Clinical signs included dyspnea, anorexia, and signs of pulmonary edema.
- Pathological changes included left ventricular hypertrophy or dilatation, left atrial enlargement, and pulmonary edema.
Conclusions:
- Excessive moderator bands represent a distinct cardiac syndrome in cats.
- This anomaly can lead to severe congestive heart failure and death.
- While pathological changes are characteristic, clinical findings may not be specific.
Abstract:
Excessive numbers of moderator bands bridging the left ventricular septum and free wall and entangling papillary muscles were associated with heart failure and death in 21 cats. Clinical findings included dyspnea, anorexia, hypothermia, cardiomegaly, pleural effusion, plumonary edema, heart murmurs, gallop rhythm, electrocardiographic abnormalities (especially conduction disturbances), increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, angiocardiographic evidence of left ventricular restriction, and aortic thromboembolism. Pathologic changes included a morphologically distinct network of abnormal numbers of moderator bands in the left ventricle, left ventricular hypertrophy (younger cats--mean age, 4 years) or dilatation (older cats--mean age, 8.7 years), left atrial enlargement and hypertrophy, and pulmonary edema with heart failure cells in the alveoli. Heart weights of affected cats were significantly less than those of cats with congestive, hypertrophic, and restrictive cardiomyopathy (endocardial fibrosis), but were not significantly less than heart weights of clinically normal cats. Pathologic changes were characteristic of the syndrome grossly and histologically, but clinical findings were not clearly definable.