Double-Chambered Right Ventricle and Intraventricular Thrombosis Mimicking Double-Chambered Right Ventricle in Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).

Abstract

Reports of congenital heart disease in nonhuman primates are rare, and double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV), which is a rare congenital heart disease, in which an abnormal muscle bundle divides the right ventricle into 2 chambers (a proximal high-pressure chamber and a distal low-pressure chamber), has not been previously reported. We diagnosed DCRV antemortem in 2 monkeys bred at The Tsukuba Primate Research Center that presented with cardiac murmurs. Subsequent diagnostic evaluation confirmed DCRV in one case, with the other diagnosed with midventricular obstruction having a pathophysiology similar to DCRV. The monkey that had DCRV exhibited a pathophysiology similar to that in humans with DCRV, while the other monkey had a condition mimicking DCRV which was due to a thrombus. We believe this to be the first report of DCRV and a rare DCRV-like pathophysiology due to a thrombus in the ventricle in nonhuman primates.