| dc.description.abstract | Summary
Background: The treatment of canine heartworm disease (HWD) consist from macrocyclic lactones, doxycycline, and melarsomine recommended by the American
Heartworm Society (AHS).
Objectives: To gain experiences on diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities of the
disease.
Materials and Methods: Blood samples of 38 dogs were examined by a modified
Knott test, and with a Dirofilaria immitis specific antigen test. A PCR test for D. immitis
and D. repens was done if both the Knott test and one antigen test were positive.
HWD was stated if (1) the PCR was positive for D. immitis in 22 dogs (58%). (2) A negative Knott test was found and two or three antigen tests of different manufacturers
became positive in 12 dogs (32%). (3) Adult heartworms were detected by echocardiography in 4 cases (10%) where only one antigen test was applied. As to the clinical staging suggested by the American Heartworm Society, 18 dogs (48%) belonged
to Class 1, 10 (26%) to Class 2, and 10 (26%) to Class 3. The macrocyclic lactone (ML)
milbemicin-oxime was applied in 6 cases. Due to the adverse reactions seen at the
first application in two dogs of these animals, moxidectin was used later and in any
remaining (32) cases during each ML treatment without adverse reactions. Melarsomine injection was given to 22/38 dogs on the 60th, 90th, and 91st therapeutic days.
8/38 dogs were treated with two injections on the 60th and 61st days, whilst 8/38
dogs received only one injection on the 60th day. Dogs with 2 or 1 injections belonged
to Class 1 or 2.
Results and Discussion: 33 patients (87%) survived whilst 5 (13%) died. No complications were seen in 10 (26%) of the survived dogs, minor (respiratory, gastrointestinal, and dermatological) problems arose in 20 (53%) patients, whilst 8 (21%) dogs
showed major complications (pancreatitis, severe hepathopathy, local abscess formation, and death). A control antigen test was done 2–4 months after melarsomine
therapy in 27 dogs and 6 months thereafter in 6 survived dogs, all showing negative results. This might be due to the low case number; or if no female adult worms
remained alive even after one/two melarsomine injections; or because the presence
of the adult worms were checked only at one occasion and only with one antigen test. | en_US |
