ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Imaging
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1607384
Transient restrictive cardiomyopathy in cats: first reported case series (n=17)
Provisionally accepted
Camille Poissonnier1,2
Pierre Guigo2
Pierre Foulex2,3
Peggy Passavin3,4
Aurore Fouhety2
Tiphaine Douay2Coline Le Gall2
Kahina Kartout3,5
Eric Bomassi6
VALERIE CHETBOUL1,7*- 1Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, Maisons-Alfort, F-94700,, France
- 2Clinique Vétérinaire Tourainevet, Rochecorbon,, France
- 3Clinique Vétérinaire Boulogne Roland Garros, Boulogne Billancourt,, France
- 4Centre Hospitalier Vétérinaire Atlantia, Nantes, France
- 5Clinique Vétérinaire Evolia, l'lsle-Adam, France
- 6Clinique Vétérinaire Olliolis, Ollioules, France
- 7Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne, Créteil, Ile-de-France, France
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Background: Transient myocardial thickening has been reported in cats. This clinical entity is characterized by reversible left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy often associated with left atrial (LA) dilation and congestive heart failure (CHF) that resolves over time. To the best of our knowledge, transient restrictive cardiomyopathy (TRCM) has not yet been reported in cats. Objectives: To describe the epidemiological, clinical, echocardiographic, and prognostic features of cats with TRCM. Animals: 17 cats with TRCM and 16 control cats with non-transient RCM (NT-RCM). Methods: Retrospective study. Clinical records of cats with an RCM phenotype (defined by normal LV dimensions with LA or biatrial enlargement) were searched in 6 veterinary databases. Cats with subsequent resolution of the RCM phenotype were included in the TRCM group and those with persistent RCM phenotype in the NT-RCM group. Results: TRCM cats were significantly younger than NT-RCM cats (P=0.003). An antecedent event was identified 24 hours to 17 days before diagnosis in most TRCM cats (11/17), but in no NT-RCM cat. All TRCM cats and 12/16 NT-RCM cats had CHF, with a lower left atrium:aorta ratio in TRCM cats (P=0.04). Diuretic treatment was discontinued (10/17) or decreased (7/17) in all TRCM cats, but in no NT-RCM cat. Median survival time of NT-RCM cats was 667 days whereas the Kaplan-Meier method estimated that 86% of the TRCM cats had not died from cardiac death 6000 days after diagnosis (P=0.001).TRCM occurs in cats with common antecedent events identified in most cases and with an excellent long-term prognosis in most cases.
Keywords: Cardiology, Echocardiography, feline, Myocardium, Troponin I
Received: 07 Apr 2025; Accepted: 05 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Poissonnier, Guigo, Foulex, Passavin, Fouhety, Douay, Le Gall, Kartout, Bomassi and CHETBOUL. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: VALERIE CHETBOUL, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, Maisons-Alfort, F-94700,, France
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