Unusual massive fatty infiltration of the heart in a British cat: a case report

Abstract

A British cat was presented with generalized fatty infiltration of the heart compromising both ventricles and atria, resembling arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Due to the nature and progression of the disease, the final diagnosis was achieved at necropsy. According to our knowledge only a few cases of fatty infiltration of the heart have been reported in cats, this being the first in which the pathological findings were seen in both atria.Keywords: lipomatosis; fatty infiltration; heart; cat Lipomatosis of the heart is a rare clinical condition in cats, and has only been described sporadically in the literature (Fox et al., 2000;Harvey et al., 2006), being mostly an incidental finding at necropsy in obese and elderly cats (Fox et al., 2000). In contrast, in humans it is a very common finding, present at approximately 50% of necropsies (Pantanowitz, 2001;Lucena et al., 2007), and seems to reflect the physiological process of involution that occurs with aging (Pantanowitz, 2001, Tansey et al., 2005Poirier et al., 2006). The condition shows histopathological features that are similar between species; however, the primary causes remain undetermined. Lipomatosis of the heart has been primarily observed in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and as a secondary finding in various conditions such as inherited muscular dystrophies, reparation tissue after injury (Une et al., 1998;Lucena et al., 2007;Schmitt et al., 2007), lipomatous hypertrophy, lipomas and liposarcomas, chronic ischemia, myocarditis, or associated with obesity and alcohol abuse (Tansey et al., 2005). The purpose of this report is to present the pathological changes caused by the development of massive heart lipomatosis in an adult cat. Case descriptionA 15-month old castrated female British Shorthair cat weighing 4 kg was admitted to the Clinic of Dog and Cat Diseases at the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic. In the two days prior to being admitted, the patient was dyspnoeic, for which it was receiving high doses of furosemide. During the preliminary clinical examination the cat presented with stupor, tachycardia, tachypnoea and hypothermia. Shortly after the cat collapsed and suffered a cardiorespiratory stroke, to which the owner declined resuscitation. At necropsy the cat's body condition seemed to be very good. The abdominal cavity contained approximately 50 ml of yellowish effusion. Hepatic and splenic congestion were also present. In the thoracic cavity approximately 100 ml of yellowish effusion was present. Pulmonary congestion and oedema were evident. There were neither pericardial defects nor vascular anomalies. The heart showed generalized whitish discoloration and the right ventricle was markedly dilated. Other organs were grossly normal. For the histopathological examination, sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Van Gieson's stain for connective tissue. The kidneys showed chronic glomerulonephritis and proteinuria. The liver, spleen and thy...

Lipomatous metaplasia identified in rabbits with reperfused myocardial infarction by 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging and histopathology

“…Cine-cMR showed homogenous signal but hypokinetic on the lateral wall (Figure 6 A4, A5). These were similar to what have been described for rabbits with acute MI [10]. …”

“…The rabbit appears an ideal animal for cardiac research [1,3,10,27]. Comparing to large animals such as pigs, sheep, and dogs, the mid-size rabbit can be easily handled in addition to its inexpensiveness.…”

“…How the collagen fiber degenerates into adipose tissue is still unclear. Findings of LM have been seldom described in veterinary subjects [10], yet never established by both in vivo and ex vivo animal research.…”