A Granular Sparkling Pattern on Echocardiogram of a Cat with Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

The case of a 5-year-old male, neutered, mixed-breed was investigated for persistent azotemia. Acute kidney injury (or acute exacerbation of chronic kidney disease) with pyelonephritis was diagnosed. Thoracic radiographs showed mineralization of the left ventricular region of the heart. In addition, two-dimensional echocardiography revealed left ventricular wall thickening with a granular sparkling pattern within the myocardium. This granular pattern has been seen in some human patients with cardiac amyloidosis. However, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of this type of echocardiographic finding in a cat.