title: Is treatment of feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy based in science or faith? A survey of cardiologists and a literature search.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cardiac disease of cats. Treatment of HCM is usually directed at controlling signs of congestive heart failure (CHF), preventing occurrence or recurrence of systemic thromboembolism or delaying/preventing/reversing progression of subclinical disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Despite the laudable goals of therapy, however, little objective evidence supporting therapeutic decisions has been published. We, therefore, hypothesized that cardiologists base their treatment strategies on information other than published clinically relevant science. To gain insight into therapeutic decisions that cardiologists and clinicians with an interest in cardiology (n=99) make for cats with HCM, and on what information they base these decisions, we presented participants with, and asked them to select therapy for, 12 hypothetical scenarios of HCM (± CHF). Responses and justifications for treatment choices were compiled and compared with the results of a comprehensive literature search for published information about treatment of feline HCM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Evaluation of the therapeutic strategies chosen for these hypothetical cases of HCM suggests that cardiologists or clinicians with a strong interest in cardiology often prescribe treatments knowing that little documented evidence supports their decisions.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Information Network, Davis, CA 95616, USA. mr89@cornell.edu
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rishniw
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Pion
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002309:Cardiology; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D002415:Cats; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012586:Science; D014730:Veterinary Medicine