title: Prevalence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a cohort of British Shorthair cats in Denmark.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) has been described previously in British Shorthair cats (BSH), but until now, no reports have been published describing the prevalence of the disease within this breed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HCM in a large cohort of BSH and to evaluate the effect of sex, weight, and increasing age as potential risk factors for this disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and twenty-nine BSH presented for routine HCM screening during a 4-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cross-sectional study in which all cats were screened for HCM by conventional echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 329 cats were examined, 214 females and 115 males, with a median age of 2.3 years (range, 0.8-14.1). Twenty-eight cats (8.5%) were classified as HCM-positive, 14 (4.3%) as equivocal, 282 (85.7%) as HCM-negative, and 5 (2.1%) were diagnosed with other cardiac diseases. The median age for diagnosis of HCM was 2.7 years (range, 0.9-14.1). Male cats had a significantly higher occurrence of HCM (20.4%) compared with the females (2.1%) corresponding to an odds ratio of 7.89 (95 % CI, 2.54-28.08) for males versus females adjusted for age and weight (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BSH in our cohort had a high prevalence of HCM, often of early onset and with a significant male sex predisposition. We strongly recommend echocardiographic screening in this breed, especially cats used for breeding.
authors: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. sarag@life.ku.dk
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Granström
authors: M T Nyberg
authors: MT
authors: Godiksen
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Christiansen
authors: C B
authors: CB
authors: Pipper
authors: J L
authors: JL
authors: Willesen
authors: J T
authors: JT
authors: Willesen
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Koch
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors