Pulmonary arterial response to Angiostrongylus vasorum in naturally infected dogs: echocardiographic findings in two cases.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Angiostrongylus vasorum is a nematode living in the pulmonary arteries of canids. Infected dogs develop severe pulmonary lesions which can potentially lead to pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, reports of PH in natural infected dogs are scant. One of the possible causes of the low prevalence of PH in A. vasorum-infected dogs could be the establishment of large diameter intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses (IPAVAs), which attenuate pulmonary vascular resistance, thus reducing the pulmonary arterial pressure. The present report describes the pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) response to A. vasorum natural infection in two dogs, assessed by echocardiography and by the saline contrast echocardiographic test (SCE).

Results

Both dogs showed clinical signs of resp

SUBMITTER: Corda A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6549332 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature