Echocardiographic measure shows promise for early detection of cardiac changes in cats with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

16 September 2026

A new study has shown that ventricular-arterial coupling can be estimated using echocardiography and may help in the early detection and evaluation of cardiac function in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, the study is the first to investigate echocardiographically estimated ventricular-arterial coupling in cats with HCM, which may be useful for understanding alterations in left ventricular performance in the hypertrophic heart.

Ventricular-arterial coupling (VAC) is the interaction between the ventricle and the arterial system and is an indicator of overall cardiovascular performance. Inappropriate VAC has been associated with increased disease severity and a poorer prognosis.

Researchers retrospectively reviewed the records of 69 cats diagnosed with HCM and 36 healthy control cats, all of which had undergone echocardiography at the Small Animal Hospital, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Cats with HCM were classified as stage B1, B2 or C. Echocardiographic measurements were used to estimate arterial elastance and left ventricular end-systolic elastance for the calculation of VAC.

The results showed a decrease in VAC in cats with HCM, particularly in stage B1 cats, which had significantly lower VAC values than both healthy cats and those with stage C. This suggests that changes in cardiac function may occur early in the course of the disease. Mean VAC values were 0.177 in healthy cats, compared with 0.088, 0.099 and 0.080 in cats with stage B1, B2 and C HCM, respectively.

Significant associations were also identified between VAC and conventional echocardiographic parameters, with a strong negative correlation with fractional shortening and a fair positive correlation with left ventricular internal diameter during diastole. VAC was also associated with age, with older cats having lower VAC values.

These findings demonstrate the feasibility of estimating VAC using echocardiography and highlight its potential to be a useful parameter for assessing cardiac function and early cardiovascular changes in cats with HCM.

Dr Sirilak Disatian Surachetpong, senior author of the study, said: “The reduction in ventricular-arterial coupling observed even in cats with early-stage HCM is particularly interesting. This suggests that VAC may capture subtle changes in cardiovascular function that are not fully reflected by conventional echocardiographic measurements. Further research will help determine whether it can become a useful tool for earlier assessment and monitoring of cats with HCM.”

Read the full study in the Journal of Small Animal Practice.