Transient Myocardial Thickening in Cats Associated with Heart Failure

Figure 1. Left ventricular wall thickness (LVWT) (A) and left atrial size (LA/Ao) (B) in cats with TMT and HCM at presentation and final echocardiographic examination. At presentation, left ventricular walls were thicker in cats with HCM. The left atrium was larger in cats with HCM at presentation and remained dilated over time, while it decreased over time in the TMT population. By definition, the LVWT and LA/Ao decreased between the initial and the final echo in the TMT population, and so those two datasets were not subjected to statistical analysis. Echo, echocardiogram; TMT, transient myocardial thickening; HCM, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Figure 2. Right parasternal long‐axis (A, B, E, F) and short‐axis views (C, D, G, H) at end‐diastolic frame from 2 TMT cases at initial presentation (A, C and E, G) and 7 months later (B, D and F, H). The initial severely increased left ventricular wall thickness (A, C, E, G) and mild pericardial effusion (E, G) resolved completely, with a morphologically normal heart 7 months later.

Figure 3. Left atrial fractional shortening (LA%FS) in cats with TMT (A) and HCM (B) at presentation and final echocardiographic examination. LA%FS was reduced in both groups at presentation but improved in the TMT group over time. Echo, echocardiogram.

Figure 4. Long‐term follow‐up in 15 cats with TMT. Normal left ventricular wall thickness was defined as <5.5 mm (normal echo), but all cats with serial echos showed a further decreased in wall thickness over time. Echo, echocardiogram.