José Alberto Montoya-Alonso

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

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...

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 diagnostic value of t...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Pulmonary endarteritis caused by Dirofilaria immitis and pulmonary hypertension (PH) are closely linked and the determination of PH could be validated to assess the severity and chronicity of the vascular damage, i.e. by the use of the Right Pulmonary Artery Distensibility (RPAD) Index. The aim was to evaluate the RPAD Index in dogs 10 months after...

Background Angiogenesis can occur under pathological conditions when stimuli such as inflammation, vascular obstruction or hypoxia exist. These stimuli are present in cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis (Dirofilaria immitis). The aim of this study was to analyze the capacity of D. immitis antigens to modify the expression of angiogenic factors and trigg...

Background: Mast cell tumours are the most common cutaneous neoplasms in dogs. Other primary sites include visceral organs, such as the gastrointestinal tract, liver, or spleen, and the oral cavity. Frequent metastatic sites include the local lymph nodes, skin, spleen, liver and bone marrow. The thorax is rarely affected by metastatic disease and...

The treatment of canine heartworm has been modified over the years, adding improvements for greater efficacy, safeness and better prognosis. Currently, the recommended adulticidal protocol consists of the administration of three doses of melarsomine dihydrochloride, preceded by the administration of macrocyclic lactones over two to three months. Th...

La dirofilariosis felina es una enfermedad parasitaria de difícil diagnóstico en el gato, aunque cada vez es mayor el conocimiento que se tiene de ella. Los signos clínicos que aparecen con mayor frecuencia son respiratorios, mientras que los neurológicos y la insuficiencia cardiaca congestiva derecha son menos frecuentes. En el gato, un pequeño nú...

Las masas laríngeas generalmente limitan de forma significativa el flujo de aire durante la inspiración, la espiración o bien de forma transitoria en ambas fases del ciclo respiratorio. La pletismografía es una prueba de función pulmonar no invasiva que permite realizar un estudio dinámico de la mecánica respiratoria sin tener que someter al pacien...

This report described a French Bulldog bitch with clinical signs of dysuria, vaginal bleeding and presence of a vaginal mass. An episiotomy was performed and the mass was excised with a diagnosis of urethral leiomyosarcoma. To best of authors' knowledge, a urethral leiomyosarcoma has been not reported in the veterinary literature.

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain located in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. They are four largest islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera) and many minor islands and islets close to the larger islands. According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification, the warm Mediterrane...

Cardiopulmonary biomarkers are serum parameters that can be objectively measured and quantified as indicators of pathogenic processes, and are considered tools for the screening, diagnosis or monitoring of disease, and determining the prognosis. They may also be used to determine the usefulness of specific therapies and susceptibility of the diseas...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in heartworm disease is mainly caused by intimal proliferation of the pulmonary arteries and presence of pulmonary thromboembolisms. To determinate PH in dogs infected by Dirofilaria immitis, the Right Pulmonary Artery Distensibility Index (RPAD Index) is an echocardiographic index that has been validated by several stud...

In Bulgaria few studies have been published, reporting the presence of dirofilariasis and gradual increase in dogs and wild canids during the years. To date, the presence of dirofilariasis in dogs in Sofia has been reported, but the prevalence has never been evaluated

Heartworm adulticide treatment has been modified with major improvements over the years, and the current treatment presents a better prognosis and greater efficacy. The three-dose method is the current recommended protocol by the European Society of Dirofilariosis and Angiostrongylosis and the American Heartworm Society. Consists on the administrat...

The cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis caused by Dirofilaria immitis is a chronic disease characterized by the development of acute inflammatory reactions and thrombi formation in the pulmonary arteries of the hosts. When spontaneous or treatment induced worm’s death exacerbates inflammatory reactions at the levels of pulmonary arteries, producing a ma...

Human subcutaneous dirofilariosis caused by Dirofilaria repens is a vector-borne parasitic disease diagnosed with increasing frequency in Europe. These infections are characterized by the appearance of subcutaneous nodules caused by the local inflammatory reaction against immature/mature worms that mimic both benign and malignant primary or metasta...

The aims of this retrospective study were to evaluate the efficacy of different steroid formulations (depot vs oral) and if the continuous administration of steroids throughout and beyond a CHOP protocol might improve the survival time and rate of cats with mediastinal lymphoma. The medical records of client-owned cats diagnosed with mediastinal ly...