Benazepril and subclinical feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a prospective, blinded, controlled study.

Author(s): Taillefer M, Di Fruscia R

Affiliation(s): Companion Animal Research Group, Small Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Universite de Montreal, 3200, Sicotte Street, PO Box 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec J2S 7C6. mylene.taillefer@umontreal.ca

Publication date & source: 2006-05, Can Vet J., 47(5):437-45.

Publication type: Randomized Controlled Trial

Twenty-one cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were enrolled in this study to determine if the administration of benazepril (0.5 mg/kg body weight [BW], PO, q24h) to cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy improves cardiac diastolic function and reverses left ventricular hypertrophy when compared with diltiazem controlled delivery (CD) (10 mg/kg BW, PO, q24h). Cats were evaluated at day 0 and after 3 and 6 months of therapy. In the benazepril group (n = 11), the diastolic transmitral flow of the E and A waves ratio (E/A ratio) increased significantly between 0 and 6 months (P = 0.009) and the thickness of the left ventricular free wall in systole (LVFWs) decreased significantly between 0 and 3 months (P = 0.04). In the diltiazem CD group (n = 5), none of the parameters varied significantly throughout the study. There was no difference between the benazepril and the diltiazem CD group throughout the study. Therefore, the variations observed for the E/A ratio and the LVFWs may have been incidental. Further studies will be needed to establish the role of benazepril in subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cat.