Sara Nieves García Rodríguez

University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | ULPGC · Department of Animal Pathology, Animal Production, and Food Science and Technology

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...

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...

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...

Simple Summary Tissue Doppler imaging is a useful echocardiographic technique to evaluate the systolic and diastolic function of the right ventricle and has been used as an estimator of pulmonary hypertension. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of tissue Doppler echocardiography to determine the presence of pulmonary h...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...