References

ACVIM, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, is a recognized specialty college that examines and certifies veterinarians in a variety of specialties, including the specialty of cardiology. If you are looking for a veterinary cardiologist, search their listings for cardiology diplomates.

ECVIM-CA, the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine - Companion Animals, is a recognized specialty college that examines and certifies veterinarians in the specialties of internal medicine and cardiology. Veterinary cardiology diplomates are listed together with internal medicine diplomates on their diplomates page.

Case Studies In Small Animal Cardiovascular Medicine
by Mark D. Kittleson, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (Cardiology)
This is a grand rounds format presentation of small animal veterinary patients with heart disease. The HCM cases include Case 5, a cat who presented with tachypnea (rapid breathing), and Case 21, a cat who presented with a saddle thromboembolus (rear leg paralysis).

Veterinary Cardiology Online

by Michael R. O'Grady, DVM, MSc, Diplomate ACVIM (Cardiology)
Explore a variety of topics presented in question/answer format via the Clinical Cardiology Concepts page.

Drs. Kittleson, Gompf, and Little address issues of interest to cat breeders in their FAQ, Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Advice for Breeders at Dr. Little's site.  (Requires Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®, available without charge at the Adobe site.)

See anatomical drawings of a normal feline heart and a hypertrophied feline heart in the Hill's Atlas of Veterinary Clinical Anatomy at the Hill's Pet Nutrition and Health site.

Practitioners and pet owners alike will find a variety of informative links in the Cardiology section at the About.com™ Veterinary Medicine GuideSite™.
 
Washington University (St. Louis, MO) maintains a cardiomyopathy page which includes human HCM gene locations and their mode of inheritance.

The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Stanford Hospital & Clinics has an informative site about HCM, including a comprehensive video.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine provides access to the MEDLINE® databases via PubMed.

Magazine and Newsletter Articles

Siebert, Charles: The DNA We've Been Dealt, The New York Times Magazine, September 17, 1995, 50-104.

Chinitz JA, Munro MJ, Kittleson MD: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Primer and Update, The Scratch Sheet, The Official Publication of the Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association, Spring 1998, 13-17. An updated reprint was distributed with the Spring 2002 issue of The Scratch Sheet.

Veterinary/Medical References

MacDonald KA, Kittleson MD, Larson RF, Kass P, Klose T, Wisner ER. The effect of ramipril on left ventricular mass, myocardial fibrosis, diastolic function, and plasma neurohormones in Maine Coon cats with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy without heart failure. J Vet Intern Med 2006 Sep-Oct;20(5):1093-105.   Abstract.

Meurs KM, Norgard MM, Ederer MM, Hendrix KP, Kittleson MD: A substitution mutation in the myosin binding protein C gene in ragdoll hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Genomics. 2007 90(2):261-4. Abstract.

Meurs KM, Sanchez X, David RM, Bowles NE, Towbin JA, Reiser PJ, Kittleson JA, Munro MJ, Dryburgh K, MacDonald KA, Kittleson MD: A cardiac myosin binding protein C mutation in the Maine Coon cat with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Hum Mol Genet.   2005 14:3587-3593.   Abstract.

Meurs KM, Kittleson MD, Reiser PJ, Magnon AL, Towbin JA: Myomesin, a sarcomeric protein, is reduced in Maine coon cats with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,  J Vet Intern Med 15:281, 2001 (abstract).

Kittleson MD, Meurs KM, Munro MJ, Kittleson JA, Liu S-K, Pion PD, Towbin JA: Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Maine Coon Cats: An Animal Model of Human Disease, Circulation 99:3172, 1999.   Abstract.  |  Full text.

Kittleson MD, Meurs KM, Kittleson JA, Munro M, Liu S-K, Towbin JA: Heritable characteristics, phenotypic expression and natural history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Maine coon cats, J Vet Intern Med 12:198, 1998 (abstract).

Meurs K, Kittleson MD, Towbin J, Ware W: Familial systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve and/or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is apparently inherited as an autosomal dominant trait in a family of American shorthair cats, J Vet Intern Med 11:138, 1997 (abstract).

Kittleson MD, Kittleson JA, Mekhamer Y: Development and progression of inherited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Maine coon cats, J Vet Intern Med 10:165, 1996 (abstract).

Kittleson MD, Pion PD, Mekhamer Y: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a group of highly interrelated Maine coon cats, J Vet Intern Med 7:117, 1993 (abstract).

Kittleson MD: CVT Update: Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. In Bonagura JD, ed: Kirk's current veterinary therapy, XII: small animal practice, Philadelphia, 1995, WB Saunders.

Kittleson MD, Kienle RD: Small Animal Cardiovascular Medicine, St. Louis, 1998, Mosby.