Avaliação do tempo de pico da onda R em gatos hígidos

Abstract

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the main cardiological cause of mortality in felines, making the search for accessible and non-invasive screening diagnostic tools essential. The R- wave peak time (RpT), an electrocardiographic parameter that reflects the transmural ventricular activation time, emerges as a promising marker. However, its clinical application in feline medicine is limited by the absence of established reference values for healthy animals. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to measure and establish the reference parameters for the RpT, as well as the QRS complex duration, in a population of healthy cats. For this purpose, 13 healthy felines, after clinical and echocardiographic screening, underwent a 6-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) examination in right lateral recumbency. The variables were digitally measured by an experienced evaluator and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, determining the mean, standard deviation (SD), median, minimum and maximum values, and the 95% confidence interval (CI) for each variable. In the frontal plane leads, the mean for the RpT in DII was 30.00 ± 4.15 ms (95% CI: 27.49–32.51 ms), while in aVF it was 30.26 ± 4.34 ms (95% CI: 27.63–32.88 ms). For the QRS duration, the mean in DII was 53.23 ± 5.82 ms (95% CI: 49.71–56.75 ms) and in aVF it was 53.54 ± 6.33 ms (95% CI: 49.72–57.36 ms). It is concluded that this study established an unprecedented quantitative database for these electrocardiographic markers in healthy cats, offering clinicians a practical tool that can assist in the decision to deepen the diagnostic investigation in patients with suspected ventricular remodeling.