Cardiac involvement secondary to mediastinal lymphoma in a cat: regression with chemotherapy

Mediastinal lymphoma with neoplastic invasion into the heart was diagnosed in a 9-year-old castrated male domestic short hair cat. The neoplastic infiltrate was seen throughout the atria and atrial septum, surrounded the aortic root, and resulted in narrowing of the right ventricular outflow tract. Chemotherapy resulted in resolution of the echocardiographic abnormalities and the cat's clinical signs until the patient was euthanized 58 days later following development of neurologic signs. Mediastinal lymphoma with myocardial invasion and response to chemotherapy has not been documented previously in the veterinary literature.     

Retrospective Study of Streptokinase Administration in 46 Cats with Arterial Thromboembolism

A retrospective evaluation was performed on 46 cats with arterial thromboembolism (ATE) that were treated with streptokinase (SK). Significant heart disease was diagnosed in 45/46 cats, and 21/46 cats had congestive heart failure. Variable dosing schemes of streptokinase were administered within 1–20 hours following the onset of clinical signs (median = 5.5 hours). There was no difference between survivors (S) and non-survivors (NS), based on time of administration of SK after onset of clinical signs. Twenty-five (54%) of the cats had return of pulses within 2–24 hours of treatment. Fourteen (30%) of the cats had return of motor function between 9 hours and 6 days. Fifteen of the cats (33%) were discharged from the hospital, 18 (39%) died in the hospital, and 13 (28%) cats were euthanized due to complications or poor response to treatment. Four of 5 cats (80%) with single limb dysfunction survived to hospital discharge. Life threatening hyperkalemia was diagnosed in 16 cats (35%) after SK administration. Hyperkalemia was more likely to occur with the longer duration of SK infusion. Eleven cats (24%) developed clinical signs of bleeding following SK administration and 3 of these cats required a blood transfusion. Laboratory testing documented coagulopathy following SK administration in 11 out of 17 cats tested. Hypothermia and azotemia prior to SK administration and the development of hyperkalemia were negatively associated with survival.     

Diagnostic accuracy of plasma atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations in cats with and without cardiomyopathies

Objectives

Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels have been reported to be elevated in cats with cardiomyopathy. We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of plasma ANP concentration as an indicator of the severity of cardiomyopathies.

Cardiac Troponin I Is Associated with Severity of Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease, Age, and C-Reactive Protein in Dogs

Background: Concentrations of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and C-reactive protein (CRP) might be associated with cardiac remodeling in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). Age- and sex-dependent variations in cTnI concentration have been described.
Objective: To investigate whether plasma concentrations of cTnI and CRP are associated with severity of MMVD, and investigate potential associations of dog characteristics on cTnI and CRP concentrations.
Animals: Eighty-one client-owned dogs with MMVD of varying severity.
Methods: Dogs were prospectively recruited for the study. Dogs were classified according to severity of MMVD. Plasma cTnI was analyzed by a high sensitivity cTnI assay with a lower limit of detection of 0.001 ng/mL, and plasma CRP was analyzed by a canine-specific CRP ELISA.
Results: Higher cTnI concentrations were detected in dogs with moderate (0.014 [interquartile range 0.008–0.029] ng/mL, P = .0011) and severe (0.043 [0.031–0.087] ng/mL, P < .0001) MMVD, compared with healthy dogs (0.001 [0.001–0.004] ng/mL). Dogs with severe MMVD also had higher cTnI concentrations than dogs with mild (0.003 [0.001–0.024] ng/mL, P < .0001) and moderate ( P = .0019) MMVD. There were significant associations of age, CRP, heart rate, and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, on cTnI concentration C-reactive protein did not differ among severity groups, but was significantly associated with cTnI, breed, and systolic blood pressure on CRP concentration.
Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Analysis of cTnI concentration has potential to increase knowledge of overall cardiac remodeling in dogs with MMVD. However, effect of age on cTnI needs consideration when assessing cTnI.