AUTHOR=Rosati Tommaso , Jandrey Karl E. , Stern Joshua A. , Nguyen Nghi , Li Ronald H. L. 

TITLE=Evaluation of clopidogrel response in healthy cats using a novel viscoelastic test and thromboelastography

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1371781

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2024.1371781

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>Cats with cardiomyopathy face an increased risk of arterial thromboembolism (ATE). Although clopidogrel is frequently utilized to mitigate this risk, feline responses to this therapy exhibit variability. This study evaluated 2 viscoelastic devices, thromboelastography (TEG) and Viscoelastic Coagulation Monitor (VCM), for monitoring clopidogrel in cats in comparison to light transmission aggregometry (LTA).</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Twenty-eight healthy cats received clopidogrel for 7 days. Blood was collected at baseline and after treatment for analysis by TEG, VCM, and LTA.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>On LTA, maximum amplitude, slope, and area under the curve (AUC) significantly decreased after treatment (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001). On VCM, maximum clot firmness (MCF) significantly increased after treatment (<italic>p</italic> = 0.002). On TEG, R-time significantly prolonged (<italic>p</italic> = 0.024), while K and alpha angle significantly changed (<italic>p</italic> = 0.0002 and <italic>p</italic> = 0.0014, respectively). There was a moderate negative correlation between TEG R-time and LTA AUC (<italic>r</italic> = −0.39, <italic>p</italic> = 0.042). Eight cats were identified as non-responders to clopidogrel. Of the 8 non-responders, 6 (75%) had shortened R time after treatment. VCM appeared to be less discriminatory in identifying non-responders.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Discussion</title><p>LTA remained the gold standard of monitoring clopidogrel treatment in cats. Unexpected changes on VCM and TEG were likely related to high interindividual and assay variability and increased sensitivity of feline platelets. R-time on TEG may have potential utility for point-of-care monitoring of clopidogrel response in cats.</p></sec>