J Vet Sci.  2008 Jun;9(2):197-202. 10.4142/jvs.2008.9.2.197.

Percutaneous heartworm removal from dogs with severe heart worm (Dirofilaria immitis) infestation

• Lee SG
• Moon HS
• Hyun C

• KMID: 1106236
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2008.9.2.197

Abstract

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.

Keyword

caval syndrome; dirofilariasis; dogs; heartworm; percutaneous removal

MeSH Terms

Animals
Catheterization/veterinary
*Dirofilaria immitis
Dirofilariasis/*surgery
Dog Diseases/*surgery
Dogs
Echocardiography
Electrocardiography
Fluoroscopy/methods/veterinary
Surgical Instruments/veterinary
Thoracic Surgical Procedures/methods/*veterinary