Although the utility of a patient-side NT-proBNP ELISA (BNP-POC) has been described in cats screened for cardiomyopathies, its usefulness in populations with potentially lower disease prevalence is unknown. This retrospective study aimed to describe general practice BNP-POC use and to estimate a positive predictive value (PPV) for echocardiographic evidence of cardiomyopathy in apparently healthy cats.

Clinical records from cats undergoing BNP-POC (March 2015–March 2017) were reviewed. Signalment, history, examination findings, and other clinical data were recorded, along with the veterinarian's stated reason for test performance, test result (normal/abnormal), and echocardiographic findings (where available). Left ventricular wall thickness ≥6 mm classified cats as HCM, left atrial enlargement (LAE) was present where LA:Ao>1.5, LA diameter long-axis >16 mm).

BNP-POC was recorded in 281 cats: 155 were male and median age was 11.5 years (0.2–20.0). A murmur was detected in 207/281, a gallop in 24/281 and arrhythmias in 12/281. The most frequent reasons for testing were: auscultated abnormalities (61.6%), pre-anaesthetic assessment (14.9%), and possible cardiac-related signs (13.1%).

Results were abnormal in 93/281 cats (33%). Excluding those with clinical signs (n=37) or an unknown reason for testing (n=7) 81/237 apparently healthy cats tested abnormal: 39/81 underwent echocardiography. Of these, 23/39 (59%) had HCM, with 17/39 (44%) having LAE. No cats were diagnosed with other classes of heart disease.

In a general practice population of apparently healthy cats, BNP-POC had an estimated PPV for HCM of 59%, and for LAE of 44%. Prospective studies are needed to validate this test in a larger population.

Disclosures

No disclosures to report.