Lesson 8 of 9
In Progress
How Congenital Heart Failure Differs in Cats and Dogs
- Incidence:
- Less common in cats than dogs
- Breed, Sex:
- No overall breed or sex predilection in cats
- Frequency of congenital disorders:
- A-V valve insufficiency – (17%)
- Ventricular septal defect – (15%)
- Endocardial fibroelastosis – (11%)
- Patent ductus arteriosus – (11%)
- Aortic stenosis – (6%)
- Tetralogy of Fallot – (6%)
- General Comments:
- A-V valve insufficiency:
- if severe – heart failure and death likely occur in the first few weeks of life
- most cases are likely mild with no symptoms but do have a heart murmur of mitral or tricuspid regurgitation
- a great deal of data is lacking with respect to the significance of this disorder
- Ventricular septal defect:
- the prognosis of this disorder depends on the size of the defect
- it is well known that many cats can have small defects and live long normal lives
- the clinical picture is identical to that of the dog
- in that spontaneous closure of VSD is common in man, it may also occur in cats
- in that VSD forms a part of a number of other complex anomalies, the VSD disorder is considered by many to be the most common defect in the cat
- Endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE):
- primarily seen in Burmese and Siamese cats
- a fatal short coursed disorder in young cats (3 wk to 4 months) characterized by fibrosis of the ventricular endocardium causing a marked loss in distensibility
- LV and left atrial dilation occur with fulminant heart failure
- no treatment is effective
- Patent ductus arteriosus:
- some cats may die with this disorder soon after birth
- it is reported that if they survive the immediate neonatal period, most will develop signs of CHF and die by one year of age
- the incidence of reverse PDA in cats is said to be 15-20% of cases of PDA
- the clinical picture is as for dogs with PDA
- surgical correction is the only definitive cure
- Aortic stenosis:
- A.S. is usually supravalvular in the cat
- the clinical picture is as for dogs
- Tetralogy of Fallot:
- similar to the dog in presentation and clinical course
- A-V valve insufficiency:
