Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection with portosystemic shunt in a cat

Abstract

A nine-month-old castrated male domestic shorthair presented for evaluation with a three-month history of hematuria. Portosystemic shunts and calculi within the bladder were suspected, and computed tomography angiography was performed. Computed tomography angiography identified an extrahepatic portosystemic shunt and a partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection, with the lobar vein of the right caudal lobe draining into the caudal vena cava. After anesthesia was administered to the cat, tachypnea and wheezing respiratory sounds were observed, and thoracic radiography revealed the right middle lung lobe atelectasis and an unstructured interstitial pattern in the left cranial lobe. Echocardiography showed left and right atrial enlargement and slight interventricular septal flattening in diastole. Based on these findings, cardiogenic pulmonary edema was suspected, and the cat was treated with furosemide. The clinical symptoms were resolved the next day. Closure of the extrahepatic portosystemic shunt was performed on days 47 and 157. Left atrial enlargement and interventricular septal flattening were attenuated after the procedure. At the time of writing this report (seventeen months after diagnosis), the cat exhibited no clinical signs, but subjective right atrial enlargement remained at approximately the same level. This report represents the first case of a partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection and a portosystemic shunt in a cat.