Surgical and nonsurgical management of patent ductus arteriosus in cats: 28 cases (1991–2012)

Abstract

Results suggested that PDA occurs rarely in cats, and clinical signs and diagnostic findings were consistent with those previously reported for dogs. Surgical versus nonsurgical treatment did not result in a significant difference in life expectancy in this small cohort. Evaluation of laryngeal function after surgical ligation is recommended. Further study of the outcome associated with various treatment options in a larger population of patients is recommended.

Clinical findings and treatment outcomes for cats diagnosed with patent ductus arteriosus in the UK: a retrospective study of 19 cases (2004–2012)

“…This is vastly higher than the proportion in dogs, where only 3 per cent of the population studied presented with PAH secondary to PDA (Saunders and others 2014). The incidence of PAH was also higher in the present study in comparison to a recent study of cats (Hutton and others 2015), which found an incidence of 8 per cent of PAH in their population of 21 cats. The reasons behind the difference between the two cat populations are unclear.…”

“…One may argue that surgery, therefore, may be a survival benefit and warrants further study. Hutton and others (2015) found that the median survival time for cats that did not have surgery was 45 months (1350 days), which is almost three times longer than that found in non-operated cats in the present study (459 days). The median survival time for those cats that did have surgery was not estimable in the Hutton and others’ (2015) study but it was not significantly different (P=0.41) from the group of cats that were managed without surgery.…”

“…Hutton and others (2015) found that the median survival time for cats that did not have surgery was 45 months (1350 days), which is almost three times longer than that found in non-operated cats in the present study (459 days). The median survival time for those cats that did have surgery was not estimable in the Hutton and others’ (2015) study but it was not significantly different (P=0.41) from the group of cats that were managed without surgery. The survival data in the present and the Hutton and others’ (2015) studies is in stark contrast to what has been reported in dogs where there was a statistically significant difference found between dogs that had their PDA surgically occluded and those that were managed medically (Van Israel and others 2003, Saunders and others 2014).…”

“…Therefore the prevalence of PDA in cats in the UK may be underrepresented here. In summary, PAH was much more prevalent in the present study (37 per cent) in comparison to what has been previously published in cats (8 per cent, Hutton and others 2015) and in dogs (3 per cent, Saunders and others 2014). PAH did not have a statistically significant effect on survival times but those cats that were diagnosed with PAH were much more likely to be referred due to clinical signs of heart disease than for a murmur investigation (P=0.004).…”

“…In that series 86 per cent of cats were presented at less than one year of age in comparison to 57 per cent of cases in the present study. Age at presentation was not reported in a recent study of 28 cases of PDA in cats that compared those that were managed surgically to those that were not (Hutton and others 2015). The majority of cases (67 per cent) in the Hitchcock and others’ (2000) case series presented for investigation of clinical signs whereas only 32 per cent and 35 per cent of cases presented for investigation of clinical signs in the present study and the Hutton and others’ (2015) study, respectively.…”