Journal
JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE
Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 197-202Publisher
KOREAN SOC VETERINARY SCIENCE
DOI: 10.4142/jvs.2008.9.2.197
Keywords
caval syndrome; dirofilariasis; dogs; heartworm; percutaneous removal
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Canine heart worm disease is often life-threatening due to its various complications, including right side heart failure, caval syndrome and pulmonary eosinophilic granulomatosis. Several preventive medications and melarsomine have been developed and they are very effective to control heartworm infestation. However, in a case of severe infestation, melarsomine therapy often results in an unfavorable outcome because of the severe immune reaction caused by rapid killing of the adult worm. Surgical removal and an interventional method using flexible alligator forceps have been well described in the literature. Despite the usefulness of mechanical removal using flexible alligator forceps, the methodology still needs to be upgraded for increasing the applicability for treating dogs with severe infestation. We describe herein a newly developed percutaneous removal method for heartworms and this was successfully applied to 4 dogs with severe heartworm infestation. The follow-up studies also showed favorable outcomes with no complications.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available