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| | ==Diagnosis== | | ==Diagnosis== |
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| − | '''Diagnosis''':
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| − | *Physical examination:
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| − | **signs of heart disease
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| − | **lung involvement
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| − | *Radiography:
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| − | **enlargement of right heart, main pulmonary arteries; arteries in lung lobes with thickening and tortuosity; inflammation in surrounding tissues
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| − | *ECG:
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| − | **right axis deviation → deep S waves
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| − | *Echocardiography:
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| − | **if post caval syndrome suspected - right ventricular enlargement with worms in ventricle appearing as parallel lines.
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| − | '''Clinical pathology''':
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| − | *needed alongside physical examination and other tests to determine treatment strategy and prognosis.
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| − | '''Parasite detection''':
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| − | *methods for demonstrating microfilariae in blood:
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| − | **wet blood smear (okay for quick look, but insensitive) = ''D. immitis'' not progressively motile
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| − | **Knott's test = red blood cells lysed; stained sediment examined
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| − | **micropore filter = blood forced through; microfilariae held on filter; stained and examined
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| − | **antibody detection ELISA = not reliable in dogs, but it is the best for cats (although some false positives)
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| − | **antigen detection ELISA (using specific antigen from adult female worm) = reliable positives from 5-7months post-infection in dogs; although occasional false negatives occur → '''not''' useful for cats
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| − | *the immunochromatographic test (ICT) uses coloured gold colloidal particles tagged to monoclonal antibodies to visualise the presence of adult worm antigen - performance similar to antigen detection ELISA, but quicker and easier to do (but not as quantitative as some ELISAs are)
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| − | *operator error can give false positives, therefore best to confirm result with another test.
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| | ===Clinical Signs=== | | ===Clinical Signs=== |
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