Population and survival characteristics of cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: 260 cases (1990–1999)

OBJECTIVE: To determine current population characteristics of, clinical findings in, and survival times for cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: 260 cats with HCM. PROCEDURE: Information was obtained from the medical records. Cats were classified into 1 of 4 clinical groups (congestive heart failure CHF group, arterial thromboembolism ATE group, syncope group, or cats without clinical signs subclinical group) on the basis of the primary clinical signs at the initial examination. RESULTS: 120 cats were classified in the CHF group, 43 in the ATE group, 10 in the syncope group, and 87 in the subclinical group. Antecedent events that may have precipitated CHF included i.v. fluid administration, anesthesia, surgery, and recent corticosteroid administration. Median survival time was 709 days (range, 2 to 4,418 days) for cats that survived > 24 hours. Cats in the subclinical group lived the longest (median survival time, 1,129 days; range, 2 to 3,778 days), followed by cats in the syncope group (654 days; range, 28 to 1,505 days), cats in the CHF group (563 days; range, 2 to 4,418 days), and cats in the ATE group (184 days; range, 2 to 2,278 days). Causes of death included ATE (n = 56), CHF (49), sudden death (13), and noncardiac causes (27). In univariate analyses, survival time was negatively correlated with left atrial size, age, right ventricular enlargement, and thoracentesis. Cats with systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve lived longer than cats without this echocardiographic finding. In multivariate analyses, only age and left atrial size remained significant predictors of survival time. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although overall survival time for cats with HCM was similar to earlier reports, survival times for cats with CHF or ATE were longer than previously reported.