Search Results

Abstract

Objective—To determine accuracy of an oscillometric blood pressure monitor used over a wide range of pressures in anesthetized cats.

Design—Prospective study.

Animals—6 healthy cats.

Procedure—4 female cats and 2 male cats that weighed 2.7 to 4.5 kg (5.9 to 9.9 lb) and were 2 to 8 years old were anesthetized. Blood pressure was measured directly with an arterial catheter placed in the right femoral artery and indirectly from the left antebrachium by use of an oscillometric monitor. A series of diastolic arterial pressure (DAP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and systolic arterial pressure (SAP) measurements were obtained during hypotension, normotension, and hypertension. Values obtained indirectly and directly were compared.

Results—The oscillometric monitor was accurate for DAP and MAP throughout the entire pressure range and met the standards of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (mean ± SD difference from values obtained directly, ≤ 5 ± 8 mm Hg). The SAP was increasingly underestimated with increasing overall pressure; mean differences from direct measurements were –5.2, –12.1, and –17.7 mm Hg during hypo-, normo-, and hypertension, respectively. Standard deviations for SAP were all ≤ 8 mm Hg. The monitor gave readings during all attempts. The direct blood pressure recording system appeared to perform well with neither under- nor overdamping.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Except for a minor underestimation of SAP during normo- and hypertension, the oscillometric monitor yielded reliable and easily obtainable blood pressure measurements in anesthetized cats. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002;221:646–650)

Abstract

Objective—To evaluate markers of hemostasis and their relationship to the degree of mitral regurgitation (MR) and platelet function in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCSs) with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Animals—76 clinically healthy CKCSs and 24 control dogs.

Procedure—All dogs underwent echocardiographic examination; various hemostatic, hematologic, and biochemical variables were evaluated in blood. The CKCSs were allocated to 1 of 3 groups on the basis of MR severity. In 8 control dogs and 8 CKCSs, plasma von Willebrand factor (vWF) multimer analysis was performed.

Results—Compared with control dogs, plasma fibrinogen concentration was higher in all CKCSs and related to left ventricular end diastolic diameter and left atrial-to-aortic root ratio among all CKCSs. The activated partial thromboplastin times and plasma Ddimer concentration were similar among the 4 groups. Plasma vWF concentration was lower in CKCSs with moderate to severe MR, compared with that of CKCSs with no MR and control dogs. There was a relationship between plasma vWF concentration and platelet function in CKCSs but not in control dogs. In 4 CKCSs with moderate to severe MR and low plasma vWF concentration, amounts of vWF high-molecular-weight multimers (HMWMs) were low.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—In CKCSs, MR appeared to be associated with a low plasma vWF concentration and likely a loss of vWF HMWMs (possibly through their destruction via shear stress to the blood). The importance of the changes in plasma fibrinogen concentration and the thromboembolic risk in dogs with MR remain to be investigated. (Am J Vet Res 2004;65:1644–1652)