Wei Lirou, Li Jing, Ren Honglin, Fu Shiyi, Liu Yiting, Wu Yuhong, Liu Bo
College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
J Feline Med Surg. 2025 Jan;27(1):1098612X241303323. doi: 10.1177/1098612X241303323.
This study aimed to assess left atrial (LA) size in healthy cats using cardiovascular MRI (cMRI) and to compare this with LA size assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography. The hypothesis was that cMRI would accurately determine LA size in domestic cats.
A prospective comparative study was performed. Six healthy cats were selected for the study. Standard two-dimensional echocardiography was performed with and without general anaesthesia. cMRI was conducted under general anaesthesia. A comprehensive analysis of LA mass and function measurements was performed to determine the consistency and correlation of LA size and function indicators between two-dimensional echocardiography and cMRI.
Our study found that intraobserver variability for cMRI measurements was lower than that for two-dimensional echocardiography. Compared with cMRI, echocardiography under anaesthesia significantly overestimated maximal LA volume (LAVmax_2D, P <0.01) and significantly underestimated minimal LA volume (LAVmin_2D, <0.01). The LAVmin measured by two-dimensional echocardiography exhibited the highest consistency (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.857) and correlation ( = 0.75, <0.01) with LAVmin measured by cMRI. The linear regression equation was LAVmin_ cMRI = 0.891 × LAVmin_2D + 0.304.
cMRI represents a reproducible method for assessing LA mass in domestic cats. This study underscored the importance of echocardiography in veterinary cardiology, and the LAVmin measured by two-dimensional echocardiography may reflect the true LAVmin.
本研究旨在使用心血管磁共振成像（cMRI）评估健康猫的左心房（LA）大小，并将其与二维超声心动图评估的LA大小进行比较。假设是cMRI能够准确测定家猫的LA大小。
进行了一项前瞻性比较研究。选择6只健康猫进行研究。在有和没有全身麻醉的情况下进行标准二维超声心动图检查。cMRI在全身麻醉下进行。对LA质量和功能测量进行了全面分析，以确定二维超声心动图和cMRI之间LA大小和功能指标的一致性和相关性。
我们的研究发现，cMRI测量的观察者内变异性低于二维超声心动图。与cMRI相比，麻醉下的超声心动图显著高估了最大LA容积（LAVmax_2D，P<0.01），并显著低估了最小LA容积（LAVmin_2D，<0.01）。二维超声心动图测量的LAVmin与cMRI测量的LAVmin表现出最高的一致性（组内相关系数=0.857）和相关性（=0.75，<0.01）。线性回归方程为LAVmin_cMRI = 0.891×LAVmin_2D + 0.304。
cMRI是评估家猫LA质量的一种可重复方法。本研究强调了超声心动图在兽医心脏病学中的重要性，二维超声心动图测量的LAVmin可能反映真实的LAVmin。
