Cause of heart murmurs in 57 apparently healthy cats.

Heart murmurs are caused by turbulent blood flow or by vibration of cardiac structures. Turbulent blood flow may originate from structural heart disease or from physiological phenomena. The aims of this study were to establish the cause of heart murmurs in apparently healthy adult cats and to determine whether a heart murmur is a reliable indicator of heart disease. In this retrospective study, we reviewed the medical records of cats in which a heart murmur was detected during physical examination by one of the authors in the period January 2008 to December 2009. Cats younger than 6 months and those with systemic disease were excluded. Timing, grade, and point of maximum intensity of the murmur were determined by one observer (MD) before 2D-, M-mode and Doppler echocardiography. Fifty-seven cats (median age 76 months, range 6-194) were included, 30 neutered females and 27 neutered males. All murmurs were systolic and varied in intensity from 2/6 to 5/6. The point of maximum intensity was the left or right parasternal region in 34/57 (61%) of murmurs. Murmurs were caused by dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in 25/57 (44%) cats, dynamic right ventricular outflow tract obstruction in 9/57 (16%) cats, and combined dynamic left and right outflow tract obstruction in 11/57 (19%) cats. In 5 (9%) cats the cause of the murmur could not be identified. Heart disease was present in 50 (88%) cats, namely, left ventricular hypertrophy in 44 (77%) and congenital defects in 6 (11%) cats. In conclusion, most heart murmurs in apparently healthy cats are detected in the left or right parasternal region and are caused by dynamic left and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Because most cats (88%) with a heart murmur had heart disease in this study, if a heart murmur is detected in an apparently healthy cat, echocardiography is recommended to determine the cause of the heart murmur and the presence of heart disease.

[Case report: double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV), ventricular septal defect, and double caudal vena cava in a cat]. / Gecompartimentaliseerde rechter ventrikel, ventrikelseptumdefect en dubbel aangelegde vena cava caudalis bij een kat.

The clinical signs and symptoms, radiographic and echocardiographic findings, and the results of cardiac post-mortem and histopathological examination of a 1-year-old female European shorthair cat with a double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV), small ventricular septal defect, and double caudal vena cava are described. A review of the literature is given with respect to the symptoms, diagnostic techniques, and therapy of DCRV in the cat. DCRV is a rare congenital defect in which stenosis inside the right ventricle causes symptoms similar to those seen in pulmonary stenosis. A diagnosis can be made by echocardiography. Little is known about its natural history and prognosis. Medical treatment, balloon dilatation, and surgery have been used to treat this defect with variable outcome. A double caudal vena cava is not clinically relevant.

[Case report: Malignant thymona and uterine carcinoma in a rabbit]. / Case report: Maligne thymoom en uteruscarcinoom in een konijn.

The symptoms, clinical signs, postmortem examination and histological findings of a rabbit with malignant thymoma are described. Moreover, the recent literature was reviewed with regard to symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of thymoma in the rabbit. Malignant thymoma is a relatively rare tumour in rabbits. Symptoms are caused by the space-occupying mass in the cranial part of the thorax and include dyspnoea and inferior caval vein syndrome. Several paraneoplastic syndromes are associated with thymoma, of which bilateral exophthalmos is one of most striking in rabbits. A definitive diagnosis is difficult to establish antemortem. Surgical removal is the treatment of choice and has been succesfully performed in the rabbit. Little is known about the prognosis after surgery.

[Arterial thromboembolism in cats]. / Arteriële trombo-embolie bij de kat.

Arterial thromboembolism is a rare disease in cats with an estimated prevalence of less than 0.57%. The outcome is often disastrous. The most commonly identified underlying cause is a form of cardiomyopathy. Thromboemboli usually tend to lodge near the aorta trifurcation, causing extreme pain, paralysis of the rear limbs, no palpable pulse wave, and cold rear limbs. Treatment is aimed at palliation, thrombolysis, and prevention of recurrence of thrombus formation. The prognosis is usually guarded and medical treatment tends not to influence the outcome markedly. In this review, we describe the pathophysiology, common clinical features, diagnostics, and treatment of arterial thromboembolism in cats. We also summarize risk factors and new developments in prevention and treatment.