M-Mode and Doppler echocardiographic parameters in kittens

BLANCO PG; BATISTA PR; RUBE A; TÓRTORA M; ARIAS DO; GOBELLO C

Maastricht

Congreso; 22nd Congress of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine ? Companion Animals; 2012

ECVIM CA

In the domestic cat, M-mode echocardiography variables have only been described in kittens during the first 3 months of life. The aim of this study was to describe cardiac morphologic and functional parameters with M-mode and Doppler echocardiography during the first 6 months in cats. Nine healthy crossbred, male and female kittens were echocardiographically assessed at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. M-mode and Doppler echocardiographic evaluations were carried out with a 7 MHz transducer. Left ventricular dimensions were measured in the short axis view, during M-mode tracing. Shortening fraction (SF) was calculated as (LVDd-LVDs)/LVDd x100 to assess systolic function. Stroke volume (SV) was calculated as the product of the velocity time integral (measured by pulsed-wave Doppler) and the cross-sectional area of the aorta. Cardiac output (CO) was calculated as the product of SV and heart rate (HR) derived from electrocardiographic monitoring. Aortic peak systolic velocity (AoPS) and mitral E wave and A wave peak velocities were also measured by pulsed wave Doppler. All variables were expressed in mean ± SD and correlated with age by a regression test. At 2, 4 and 6 months of age, interventricular septum in diastole was 5.4±0.3, 6.4±0.3 and 8.1±0.9 (r2=0.69; P