José Alberto Montoya-Alonso

University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | ULPGC · Faculty of Veterinary

This study investigates the efficacy of a sustained-release (SR) moxidectin microsphere formulation in preventing canine heartworm infection over 18 months in Canary Hound dogs, a hunting breed common in the Canary Islands, which is a hyperendemic region. These dogs typically do not receive preventive treatments and act as reservoirs for the diseas...

This study aimed to assess thoracic radiographic abnormalities in cats infected with immature stages of Dirofilaria immitis to evaluate the utility of this diagnostic technique during early infection. A total of 123 cats from a hyperendemic area were classified into three groups: asymptomatic cats seronegative to anti-D.-immitis antibodies (Group A...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a prevalent and severe complication in dogs infected with Dirofilaria immitis. This study aimed to elucidate the progression of PH by analyzing radiographic parameters and the Right Pulmonary Artery Distensibility (RPAD) Index at three key time points: diagnosis (day 0), discharge (day 90), and six months post-dischar...

Heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis is a serious and underdiagnosed cardiovascular condition in domestic ferrets. Hemodynamic changes caused by parasitization in ferrets cause a potentially fatal syndrome, but its clinical findings and treatment have not yet been standardized. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical cas...

Dirofilariosis is a zoonotic disease that mainly affects dogs and cats, with a high risk to public health. The island of Gran Canaria (Spain) has been shown to be a hyperendemic area of infection and, therefore, a model for studying the evolution of the disease. The objective of this study was to track the prevalence and distribution of heartworm i...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a consequence of pulmonary endarteritis during infection with Dirofilaria immitis in dogs. Echocardiography is the technique of choice but is not always accessible to all clinicians. This study aimed to evaluate the association of the radiological findings in dogs with heartworm disease and the presence or absence of...

The favourable geo-climatic conditions in Portugal have made it highly conducive to the development of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs, leading to its identification as an endemic region. This nematode is rapidly spreading across Europe, particularly in northeastern countries. The objective of this study was to provide an updated assessment of the prev...

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is a prevalent canine cardiac disease typically diagnosed and classified using echocardiography. However, accessibility to this technique can be limited in first-opinion clinics. This study aimed to determine if machine learning techniques can classify MMVD according to the ACVIM classification (B1, B2, C, and...

Simple Summary The development of new echocardiographic techniques, such as two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography and assessment of longitudinal myocardial deformation, may be new alternative tools to analyse the presence and severity of pulmonary hypertension in heartworm disease. A total of 93 dogs were used, of which 71% were diagnos...

The left atrial size increases (LAS) in patients with mitral valve disease (MVD) as the disease progresses. The vertebral left atrial size (VLAS), the modified-vertebral left atrial size (M-VLAS), and the radiographic left atrial dimension (RLAD) are methods reported to assess LAS on dogs’ radiographs. All these methods transform the LAS into verte...

Simple Summary Cardiopulmonary dirofilariasis is a vector-borne zoonotic disease caused by the nematode parasite Dirofilaria immitis. This disease is cosmopolitan and mainly affects canids and felids and accidentally humans. The Canary Islands (Spain) are considered an endemic area and some of its islands such as the islands of Tenerife and Gran Ca...

The abandonment and uncontrolled breeding of cats in the urban and rural areas of the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) have been heavily involved in the stray overpopulation of this feline species. This has led to the possibility of concurrent co-infections with certain feline pathogens. Dirofilaria immitis and Bartonella henselae are two zoonotic pa...

La dirofilariosis ya es una enfermedad de declaración obligatoria y es motivo de una importante preocupación internacional debido al aumento de casos comunicados. La proliferación de vectores de transmisión en áreas geográficas, hasta hace poco libres de la enfermedad, junto con una excesiva población de cánidos, genera un cocktail perfecto que nos...

The diagnostic value of the vertebral heart size (VHS) in dogs with mitral valve degeneration (MVD) is compromised when middle thoracic vertebral anomalies are present. The objective of this study was to assess the use of the thoracic inlet heart score (TIHS) to identify left heart enlargement (LHE) secondary to MVD. The cardiac silhouette of 50 cl...

Background: In recent years, the usefulness of echocardiography and serum biomarkers in the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in dogs with heartworm disease has been studied. Previously, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has shown high concentrations in dogs with heart disease and/or PH as well as its usefulness as a pro...

Background Cats can be infected by Dirofilaria immitis, the causative agent of heartworm disease, characterized by respiratory signs, airway hyperreactivity, remodelling and inflammation. Allergy is a multifactorial pathology, and the role of a number of helminth parasites in the development of allergies in humans and other species has been demonst...

Angiogenesis is a process by which new vessels are formed from pre-existing ones when the physiological conditions of the vascular endothelium are altered. Heartworm disease, caused by Dirofilaria immitis, causes changes in the vascular endothelium of the pulmonary arteries due to obstruction, friction, and hypoxia. The aim of this study was to ana...

La dirofilariosis felina (Dirofilaria immitis) ha empezado a cobrar mayor importancia y conocimiento desde hace relativamente pocos años. Sin embargo, el diagnóstico definitivo sigue siendo un desafío debido a su similitud con otras patologías respiratorias más comunes, como el asma felina o la bronquitis crónica. Los cambios radiológicos asociados...

Background: Angiogenesis is a process by which new vessels are formed from pre-existing ones when the physiological conditions of the vascular endothelium are altered. Heartworm disease (Dirofilaria immitis) causes changes in the vascular endothelium of the pulmonary arteries due to obstruction, friction and hypoxia. The aim of this study was to an...

Unlabelled: Background:Dirofilaria immitis produces proliferative pulmonary endarteritis and pulmonary thromboembolism in infected dogs. The pulmonary vascular lesions lead to irreversible and persistent structural damage and, as a consequence, sustained precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnost...

Simple Summary: The present study investigates the hypothesis that the thoracic inlet is a suitable reference point for the assessment of the heart size on a right lateral radiographic projection in dogs. This is important, since the most known method of measuring the heart size on dogs' thoracic radiographs, the vertebral heart size, has shown bre...

Cortisol, a steroid produced in the adrenal cortex, is a key hormone used as a measure of stress. Some studies demonstrate that prolonged stress, is associated with reduced survival, fecundity and immunity and that cortisol levels are related to the presence of parasites in some species, with discrepant results. This study aims to investigate the p...

Dirofilaria immitis causes proliferative pulmonary endoarteritis that leads to the appearance of chronic precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) in dogs. Pulmonary trunk to aorta ratio (PT:Ao ratio) obtained by computed tomography (CT) was studied and the quantitative measure of the diameters of the pulmonary trunk (PT), the descending thoracic ao...

Heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis is a vector-borne disease that affects canids and felids, both domestic and wild, throughout the world. It is a chronic disease which causes vascular damage in pulmonary arteries, and in advanced stages, the presence of pulmonary hypertension and right-sided congestive heart failure can be evidenced....

Adults of D. immitis taken out of an infected dog in a necropsy (veterinary cardiology service; University of las Palmas de Gran Canaria). Assessment of pulmonary hypertension in dogs with heartworm by using the ratio between the right and left ventricle 1º Introduction 3º Results 2º Methodology 4º Conclusion The infection caused by Dirofilaria imm...

Canine heartworm infection can cause a serious and highly fatal disease developed by the nematode Dirofilaria immitis. Severe cardiorespiratory clinical symptoms are related to the appearance and persistence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) of precapillary origin. The evaluation of the measurements obtained by transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) ex...

Canine angiostrongylosis is an emerging disease caused by Angiostrongylus vasorum, mainly affecting wild carnivores and dogs. In Spain, there are studies reporting infections in foxes, wolves, and badgers in different regions of the country. However, there are hardly any publications on its prevalence in dogs. The aim of this study was to complete...

Usefulness of computed tomography pulmonary vein to pulmonary artery ratio in the assessment of pulmonary hypertension in dogs with heartworm disease Heartworm disease is a serious and highly fatal disease caused by the nematode Dirofilaria immitis. Heartworm in dogs can cause clinical symptoms, including persistent dyspnea, congestive heart failur...

Angiostrongylus vasorum es el agente causante de la angiostrongilosis canina, una enfermedad que afecta a cánidos, tanto domésticos como salvajes. Su presencia ha sido analizada en varias zonas del territorio español con diferentes prevalencias como son Galicia (1,86%), Cantabria, Asturias y País Vasco (2,74%), Castilla y León (0,75%), Aragón y Cat...

Previous studies have shown the existence of an acute phase response in dogs with heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis), probably caused by the vascular inflammation that occurs during the pathogenesis of this disease. In addition, it has been seen that this acute phase response persists after finishing treatment, especially in dogs with pulmonary hypert...

Obesity is a nutritional disorder commonly diagnosed in adult cats that has been associated with an increased risk of different chronic diseases including respiratory diseases. The main objective of this study is to define if there is a relation between lung function measured by barometric whole�body plethysmography and obesity in cats with broncho...

Obesity in humans is a growing global problem and is one of the greatest public health challenges we face today. Most researchers agree that, as in humans, the incidence in the companion animal population is also increasing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors contributing to canine obesity in a region with a high rate of human o...

The climate of Spain has favourable characteristics for the development of D. immitis in dogs, being an endemic country. Given that vector-borne diseases are spreading rapidly through Europe, due to factors such as climate change, the expansion of vectors and the increased mobility of reservoir animals, the aim was to update the epidemiology of hea...

Feline heartworm is a vector-borne zoonotic disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis. It is a cosmopolitan disease that is continuously expanding. Spain is considered an endemic country; however, although there are many published studies in dogs, feline heartworm has been poorly studied in this country. Thus, the objective was to analyze the exposure...

La dirofilariosis felina y la aelurostrongilosis felina son dos enfermedades parasitarias pulmonares que han sido infradiagnosticadas durante mucho tiempo en el gato doméstico. Esto se debe principalmente a su semejanza con otras patologías respiratorias más comunes. Con el paso del tiempo, estas enfermedades han tomado importancia entre los clínic...

A lo largo de los últimos 200 años el fonendoscopio ha ido evolucionando desde el primer modelo monoaural inventado por Laënnec en 1816 hasta nuestros días con el desarrollo de los estetoscopios electrónicos con tecnología Bluetooth. La auscultación es una técnica de diagnóstico indispensable para la detección de enfermedades cardíacas y pulmonare...

Los nematodos respiratorios de los gatos domésticos han sido subestimados durante mucho tiempo porque se les atribuía baja capacidad patógena y porque algunos de ellos han sido prácticamente desconocidos en esta especie hasta hace una década. No obstante, la distribución de los vermes pulmonares felinos ha aumentado por toda Europa y, aunque los ga...

Las enfermedades del aparato respiratorio son un grupo de dolencias de gran importancia en la clínica en animales de compañía. En muchas ocasiones son cuadros complicados de difícil diagnóstico y que requieren un manejo especial. Por ese motivo, hemos elaborado esta obra para abordar, de una manera profunda y actualizada, pero a la vez fácilmente c...

Various factors are currently causing an increase in vector-borne parasitic diseases at a global scale; among them, some stand out, such as climatic disturbances derived from global change, the increase in movements of reservoir animals, or changes in land made by human activity. In the European continent, there have been an increasing number of ep...

La dirofilariosis cardiopulmonar es una enfermedad muy grave y potencialmente fatal, causada por un parásito de la familia de los nematodos llamado Dirofilaria immitis (D. immitis). Este parásito se considera la especie de filárido más importante y conocido a nivel nacional, el cual afecta principalmente a las poblaciones caninas y felinas, tanto s...

Dirofilaria immitis is a parasitic nematode responsible of cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis. This disease is endemic in Spain, being reported in the dog in almost the whole country; furthermore, feline infections are diagnosed with increasing frequency in areas where the disease is endemic in dogs. However, cats generally tolerate heartworm infection...

Cardiopulmonary nematodes are emerging parasites in the feline species in Europe. Aelurostrongylosis (Aelurostrongylus abstrusus) is characterized by inflammatory cell infiltrates in the bronchi and the lung parenchyma of the infected cats. Serum amyloid A (SAA) is considered a major acute phase protein (APP) in the cat, increasing few hours after...

El éxito del tratamiento adulticida y el pronóstico del paciente dependen de la gravedad inicial de la infección por Dirofilaria immitis en perros. Se realizó un muestreo para evaluar la utilidad diagnóstica de los marcadores de coagulación PT y APTT, así como del examen hematológico para la contribución de la evaluación del paciente infectado y de...

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a powerful vasoconstrictor and promoter of cell proliferation, causing chronic structural changes leading to cardiopulmonary tissue remodeling, which probably leads to the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in dogs and humans. Furthermore, ET-1 concentrations strongly correlate with the severity of PH. The objective w...

Heartworm disease is a cardiopulmonary condition caused by Dirofilaria immitis, which lodges in the pulmonary arteries of the hosts. The presence of the parasites produces pulmonary endarteritis, which chronically leads to pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right-sided cardiac failure. The diagnosis of these alterations is essential for a correct mana...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the most serious complications in dogs with heartworm (HW). An acute phase response and the utility of acute phase proteins (APP) as early biomarkers of PH have been demonstrated in infected dogs (Venco et al., 2014 Vet Parasitol. 206:48-54; Carretón et al., 2017 Parasit Vectors 10:477). Since PH seems to persi...

Angiostrongylus vasorum is the causative agent of canine angiostrongylosis, a disease affecting domestic and wild canids. In Europe, it is an emerging disease, mainly reported in red foxes. In Spain, there are a few studies that address the prevalence and pathology of this disease. Castilla y León is the largest region of the Iberian Peninsula, who...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Currently, climate change, modifications of landscapes and habitats due to human activities, as well as an increase in the movement of reservoirs and new species of competent vectors, have contributed to the spread of canine vector-borne diseases. These are mostly emerging and neglected diseases, some of them with zoonotic potential. Therefore, the...

Currently, climate change, modifications of landscapes and habitats due to human activities, as well as an increase in the movement of reservoirs and new species of competent vectors, have contributed to the spread of canine vector-borne diseases. These are mostly emerging and neglected diseases, some of them with zoonotic potential. Therefore, the...

The Canary Islands are hyperendemic for canine heartworm and the risk of zoonotic infection is high. Additionally, there is evidence of development of allergies due to nematode infections in animals and humans. Since the population of the Canary Islands presents high prevalence of allergic comorbidities, and previous studies have shown a possible r...

The endosymbiont bacteria Wolbachia plays an important role in the pathogenesis and inflammatory immune response to heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in dogs. Doxycycline is used to reduce Wolbachia from all life stages of heartworm to avoid large releases of the bacteria during the death of the worms. However, the dose and duration current...

Background: Angiostrongylus vasorum is the causative agent of canine angiostrongylosis, a disease that mainly affects domestic dogs and other wild carnivores. In Europe, the number of infected individuals is increasing, being located in central and southern countries. In Spain, several studies have reported high prevalence of A. vasorum in wild an...

Glomerulonephropathy associated with Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm) is relatively frequent in infected dogs. Given the importance and the scarcity of studies focused on its prevalence and diagnosis, the objective was to determine the prevalence of proteinuria and functional indicators of glomerular filtration rate in dogs with heartworm disease an...

Epidemiological and clinical evidences suggest that Dirofilaria immitis seemed to be a powerful risk factor form allergic humans findings. The main aim of our work was to assess the relationship between the presence of Dirofilaria inmitis in cats and the high prevalence of allergic comorbidities in the human population of the Canary islands, an hyp...

Currently, climate change, modifications of lands and habitats due to human activities, as well as an increase in the movement of reservoirs and new species of competent vectors, have contributed to the spread of canine vector-borne diseases. These are mostly emerging and neglected diseases, some of them with zoonotic potential. Therefore, the obje...

Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm) is a zoonotic and an emerging disease, expanding in Europe. In Bulgaria, the presence of the parasite has been described in many regions. However, canine heartworm has hardly been evaluated in the capital of the country and, therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of canine he...

Heartworm is a zoonotic infection transmitted by culicid mosquitoes. The Canary Islands are hyperendemic for heartworm and 6.2%-12.7% of the inhabitants present anti-D. immitis antibodies; thus, the risk of zoonotic infection is high and is tied to the canine prevalences. Also, there are evidences of hypersensitivity due to nematode infections in a...

Los estudios de la última década advierten de un aumento de la prevalencia y expansión de las enfermedades parasitarias. Entre ellas, se encuentra la angiostrongilosis canina, también conocida como filaria francesa, producida por el nematodo Angiostrongylus vasorum. Las razones para esta emergencia no están demostradas ni se conocen del todo, pero...

La dirofilariosis felina, producida por el parásito Dirofilaria immitis, se está diagnosticando cada vez con mayor frecuencia. Esto es debido a que cada vez existe un mayor conocimiento de esta enfermedad en la especie felina y al desarrollo de mejores métodos diagnósticos. La fisiopatología de esta enfermedad varía respecto a la especie canina. En...

Facultad de Veterinaria de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 35413-Arucas (Las Palmas)-ESPAÑA Hospital Veterinari Molins Barcelona El asma felino es una de las patologías respiratorias más frecuentes en gatos. Consiste en una enfermedad inflamatoria crónica de las vías aéreas inferiores (bronquios y bronquiolos) a menudo de causa no identificada. Suele af...

Acumulación de líquido trasudado en el espacio intersticial y/o alvéolos pulmonares. En condiciones normales, el líquido filtrado que puede salir del capilar alveolar se desplaza primero al espacio intersticial de la pared alveolar y luego al espacio intersticial peribroncovascular, donde es drenado por los vasos linfáticos. El edema pulmonar repre...

DEFINICION La bronquitis aguda se define como una tos pasajera atribuible a inflamación o irritación de las vías inferiores. La bronquitis aguda no se asocia con un daño irreversible de la vía aérea. ETIOLOGIA Bronquitis infecciosa • Infecciones bacterianas: bacterias entéricas, como Klebsiella y E.coli; Pasteurella spp, Bordetella bronchiseptica,...

Durante la última década, se han realizado importantes investigaciones para analizar la utilidad de los biomarcadores serológicos para detectar lesiones del miocardio y alteraciones de la funcionalidad cardiaca, así como daños pulmonares, con el objetivo de lograr un diagnóstico más preciso, un pronóstico fiable y abordar el tratamiento de la patol...

Resumen Dirofilaria immitis es un nematodo hemático responsable de la dirofilariosis cardiopulmonar canina, siendo considerada una zoonosis y una enfermedad emergente a nivel global. Las Islas Canarias son una región hiperendémica con un alto riesgo de infección zoonótica. Encontramos la prevalencia de asma más alta y trastornos atópicos dentro de...

Dirofilariosis caused by Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm) is a zoonosis, considered an endemic disease of dogs and cats in several countries of Western Europe, including Portugal. This study assesses the levels of D. immitis exposure in humans from Northern Portugal, to which end, 668 inhabitants of several districts belonging to two different clima...