Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Which Drug?

In this study, 40 cats without clinical signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) presented with a heart murmur or gallop and were examined.Twenty-one were confirmed to have subclinical HCM and were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, prospective study.The cats were either treated with benazepril (0.5 mg/kg PO once daily) or with diltiazem CD (10 mg/kg PO once daily). Cats were evaluated at day 0 and 3 and 6 months after therapy. Monitoring included baseline laboratory analysis, physical examinations, systolic arterial blood pressure, thoracic radiographs, and echocardiography. In the benazepril treated cats, the diastolic transmitral flow of the E and A waves (E-A ratio) increased significantly during the 6 months. In addition, the thickness of the left ventricular free wall in systole decreased significantly between 0 and 3 months. None of the parameters changed in the diltiazem CD group. When the 2 treatment groups were compared, no difference between the 2 groups was found.Thus, the findings in the benazepril group may have been incidental or due to the small number of cats enrolled in the study. Study funded by Novartis Animal Health Canada, Inc and University de Montreal

COMMENTARY: Unless you are very interested in feline HCM, you can get the practical information from just reading the abstract on this one.

Benazepril and subclinical feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A prospective, blinded, controll study.Taillefer M, Di Fruscia R. CAN VET J 2006:437-445, 2007.