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Published June 2013 | public
Journal Article

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Owl Monkeys (Aotus spp.)

Abstract

Cardiac hypertrophy is a common postmortem finding in owl monkeys. In most cases the animals do not exhibit clinical signs until the disease is advanced, making antemortem diagnosis of subclinical disease difficult and treatment unrewarding. We obtained echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, and thoracic radiographs from members of a colony of owl monkeys that previously was identified as showing a 40% incidence of gross myocardial hypertrophy at necropsy, to assess the usefulness of these modalities for antemortem diagnosis. No single modality was sufficiently sensitive and specific to detect all monkeys with cardiac hypertrophy. Electrocardiography was the least sensitive method for detecting owl monkeys with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Thoracic radiographs were more sensitive than was electrocardiography in this context but cannot detect animals with concentric hypertrophy without an enlarged cardiac silhouette. Echocardiography was the most sensitive method for identifying cardiac hypertrophy in owl monkeys. The most useful parameters suggestive of left ventricular hypertrophy in our owl monkeys were an increased average left ventricular wall thickness to chamber radius ratio and an increased calculated left ventricular myocardial mass. Parameters suggestive of dilative cardiomyopathy were an increased average left ventricular myocardial mass and a decreased average ratio of left ventricular free wall thickness to left ventricular chamber radius. When all 4 noninvasive diagnostic modalities (physical examination, echocardiography, electrocardiography, and thoracic radiography) were used concurrently, the probability of detecting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in owl monkeys was increased greatly.

Additional Information

© 2013 American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. Received: 6 January 2012; revision requested: 26 February 2012; accepted 22 January 2013. We extend a note of appreciation to Interspec Corporation for the loan of equipment used to obtain the echocardiograms reported in the current article. This study was supported by the US Agency for International Development (contract DPE-0453-C-00-6061-00) and the Intramural Research Program of the National lnstitutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Comparative Medicine Branch, and the Office of Research Support

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 24, 2023