The prevalence and degree of DEE-PAH were related to the severity of MVD. Changes associated with DEEPAH may be detected in early stages of the disease, but only in dogs with severe mitral valve regurgitation.

TDI provided effective predictors of systolic PAH and demonstrated that both alterations in right-sided systolic and diastolic myocardial function can occur with mild increases in SPAP.

Background: Diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) relies on Doppler measurement of pulmonic and tricuspid regurgitation (TR). However, these are not always detectable.Hypothesis: Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), a novel noninvasive ultrasound technique, provides indirect but sensitive and specific assessment of elevated systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) in dogs.Animals: One hundred and five dogs with TR. Methods: Prospective observational study. Dogs were categorized as presenting normal (group 1, n 5 45), mildly increased (group 2, n 5 19), or moderately to severely increased (group 3, n 5 41) SPAP, based on TR peak velocities (,2.5, 2.5-3.0, and .3.0 m/s, respectively). Ten quantitative echo-Doppler-and TDI-derived variables were assessed, including the main pulmonary arterial diameter to aortic diameter ratio, pulmonary flow acceleration time, and acceleration-to-ejection time ratio, the Tei index of right ventricular function, and 6 longitudinal basal right ventricular TDI variables.Results: A significant correlation was observed between SPAP and each of the 10 tested variables (P , .05). Conventional echo-Doppler variables were less discriminating than the TDI for predicting increased SPAP. The combined systolic and diastolic right TDI index had the highest sensitivity and specificity (89% and 93% respectively, for a cutoff of 11.8 cm/s) and could discriminate between dogs in group 1 from dogs in group 2.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: TDI provided effective predictors of systolic PAH and demonstrated that both alterations in right-sided systolic and diastolic myocardial function can occur with mild increases in SPAP.

Systemic hypertension was diagnosed in 58 of 188 untreated cats referred for evaluation of suspected hypertension-associated ocular, neurologic, cardiorespiratory, and urinary disease, or diseases frequently associated with hypertension (hyperthyroidism and chronic renal failure). Hypertensive cats were significantly older than normotensive subjects (13.0 Ϯ 3.5 years versus 9.6 Ϯ 5.0 years; P Ͻ .01), and had a greater prevalence of retinal lesions (48 versus 3%; P Ͻ .001), gallop rhythm (16 versus 0%; P Ͻ .001), and polyuria-polydipsia (53 versus 29%; P Ͻ .01). Blood pressure was significantly higher (P Ͻ .001) in cats with retinopathies (262 Ϯ 34 mm Hg) than in other hypertensive animals (221 Ϯ 34 mm Hg). Hypertensive cats had a thicker interventricular septum (5.8 Ϯ 1.7 versus 3.7 Ϯ 0.64 mm; P Ͻ .001) and left ventricular free wall (6.2 Ϯ 1.6 versus 4.1 Ϯ 0.51 mm; P Ͻ .001) and a reduced diastolic left ventricular internal diameter (13.5 Ϯ 3.2 versus 15.8 Ϯ 0.72 mm; P Ͻ .001) than control cats. Left ventricular geometry was abnormal in 33 of 39 hypertensive subjects. No significant difference was found in age or blood pressure at the initial visit between cats that died or survived over a 9-month period after initial diagnosis of hypertension. Mean survival times were not significantly different between hypertensive cats with normal and abnormal left ventricular patterns. Further prospective studies are needed to clearly identify the factors involved in survival time in hypertensive cats.Key words: Blood pressure; Cat; Echocardiography; Left ventricular hypertrophy; Systemic hypertension. Feline systemic arterial hypertension is a frequent cardiovascular disorder, especially in aged animals, most often secondary to other diseases, such as chronic renal failure and untreated hyperthyroidism.1,2 However, the prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension in a large population of cats is at the moment not precisely known. Previous published studies concerning feline systemic hypertension had several limitations: the number of animals involved was relatively low (n ϭ 24), 2 the studied cats were only compared to normotensive healthy cats, 1,2 and only specific subpopulations (ie, cats with renal failure or hyperthyroidism) were studied.1 Cutoff values for the diagnosis of hypertension vary between studies. In some cases, 1 hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure higher than a normal control group. Although these values may be valid for some purposes, in most clinical cases systemic hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 160 or 170 mm Hg. 3Hypertension predisposes eyes, kidneys, brain, and cardiovascular system to injury in both human and veterinary patients. Among the clinical consequences in cats, cardiac hypertrophy is described in most detail.2,4,5 The prognostic value of changes in left ventricular structure or function remains unknown. In human hypertensive patients, systemic arterial hypertension is associated with a wide spectrum of left ventricular geometric patterns ...