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Rare Case of Angiostrongylus Vasorum Intraocular Infestation in an Asymptomatic Dog.

ABSTRACT: The presented clinical observation shows an atypical case of Angiostrongylus vasorum intraocular infection in an 18-month-old male beagle from north-eastern Slovakia. The dog presented with a motile worm in the anterior chamber of the right eye. No ocular signs or symptoms of a systemic disease were observed. The faecal examination using Baermann´s technique and fl otation was negative. Diagnosis was established following surgical removal of the worm. The specimen was determined as an A. vasorum female based on morphological features and confirmed by means of PCR technique and sequencing. To the best of our knowledge, the presented manifestation is the first ocular case of angiostrongylosis with absence of typical symptoms or signs of the disease.

SUBMITTER: Hurnikova Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6818636 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Rare Case of Angiostrongylus Vasorum Intraocular Infestation in an Asymptomatic Dog.

Hurníková Z Z Čabanová V V Karpjak P P Kasenčák M M Miterpáková M M

Helminthologia 20191030 4

The presented clinical observation shows an atypical case of Angiostrongylus vasorum intraocular infection in an 18-month-old male beagle from north-eastern Slovakia. The dog presented with a motile worm in the anterior chamber of the right eye. No ocular signs or symptoms of a systemic disease were observed. The faecal examination using Baermann´s technique and fl otation was negative. Diagnosis was established following surgical removal of the worm. The specimen was determined as an ...[more]

PMID: 31708672

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The adult worms of Angiostrongylus vasorum reside in the pulmonary artery of dogs and can lead to cardiac, respiratory, and central neurologic signs. Due to luminal obstruction and perivascular inflammation of the pulmonary artery branches, pulmonary hypertension can arise. Pulmonary hypertension, in turn, can lead to severe damage of the right-sided cardiac structures, leading to right ventricular remodeling and tricuspid valve regurgitation. CASE PRESENTATION:An 8-year-old neutered female English Cocker Spaniel was presented to the author's institution because of abdominal distention and exercise intolerance. Ascites caused by congestive right-sided heart failure was found to be responsible for these problems. The underlying etiology of the right-sided heart failure was a severe pulmonary hypertension caused by Angiostrongylus vasorum infection. Echocardiography revealed, in addition to a severe concentric and eccentric right ventricular hypertrophy, right atrial and pulmonary trunk dilation, severe tricuspid valve regurgitation, and a systolic flail of the anterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve, resulting from ruptured chordae tendineae. As a coincidental finding, a congenital mitral stenosis was found. Oral therapy was initiated with daily administration of fenbendazole for 2?weeks along with daily administration of oral sildenafil until the re-check examination. At the 6-week re-check the dog showed full clinical and partial echocardiographic recovery, and both the blood antigen test for Angiostrongylus vasorum and the fecal Baermann larva isolation test were negative. When the sildenafil therapy was ceased after tapering the daily dosage, the owner reported recurrence of abdominal distension. Re-starting the sildenafil therapy resulted in resolution of this problem. The dog was reported to be clinically healthy with daily sildenafil administration 7?months after the initial presentation. CONCLUSIONS:The present case report describes a dog where angiostrongylosis led to congestive right-sided heart failure resulting from severe pulmonary hypertension. The secondary right ventricular eccentric hypertrophy together with suspected papillary muscular ischemia were the suspected cause of the ruptured major tricuspid chordae tendineae, which led to a severe tricuspid valve regurgitation. Despite eradication of the worms, the severe pulmonary hypertension persisted. Treatment with daily oral sildenafil, a pulmonary arterial vasodilator, was enough to keep the dog free of clinically apparent ascites.

Project description:BackgroundAngiostrongylus vasorum is a nematode residing in the heart and pulmonary vessels of dogs and wild carnivores. In Europe the red fox is its reservoir, while only three records from wolves have been published. Angiostrongylus vasorum has a worldwide distribution, and many pieces of evidence demonstrate that it is spreading from endemic areas to new ones. In Italy, A. vasorum was reported with increasing frequency in dogs and foxes in the last decades, and now it is considered endemic throughout the country. Angiostrongylus vasorum can be asymptomatic or cause respiratory and circulatory disorders, at times causing severe disseminated infections.MethodsBetween February 2012 and December 2016, 25 wolves found dead in central Italy were submitted to the Istituto Zooprofilattico del Lazio e della Toscana for post-mortem examination. Samples of lungs, heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, mediastinic lymph nodes and brain were collected from each animal for histological examination. When adult and larval nematodes were microscopically seen in lungs, the other organs were processed, and five histological sections for each organ were examined. To confirm parasite identification, lung samples were submitted to a PCR-sequencing protocol targeting the ITS2 region of A. vasorum.ResultsSeven wolves (28.0%) harboured nematode larvae in lung sections. In two of the positive wolves, adult nematodes were visible in pulmonary arteries, in four animals larvae were also detected in other organs. DNA sequencing reactions confirmed parasite identification as A. vasorum in all the cases.ConclusionsAs a result of the high prevalence of A. vasorum reported in wolves in the present study, a focus of high circulation could be hypothesised in central Italy. Nevertheless, the similarly high prevalence in foxes originating from the same areas were reported in previous papers. Histopathological evidence highlights the pathogenic potential of A. vasorum in the wolf, especially in juvenile animals.

Dataset Information

Rare Case of Angiostrongylus Vasorum Intraocular Infestation in an Asymptomatic Dog.

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Rare Case of <i>Angiostrongylus Vasorum</i> Intraocular Infestation in an Asymptomatic Dog.

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