Dirofilaria repens in a cat with acute liver failure : case report

Acute liver failure was diagnosed in a 12-year-old cat. Fine needle aspirate cytology revealed high numbers of unsheathed microfilariae and a hepatocellular reaction with no evidence of bacterial infection. The microfilariae were identified as those of Dirofilaria repens by acid phosphatase staining...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: E.V. Schwan, D.B. Miller, D. De Kock, A. Van Heerden
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2000-07-01
Series:Journal of the South African Veterinary Association
Subjects:
Cat
Online Access:https://jsava.co.za/index.php/jsava/article/view/713
Description
Summary:Acute liver failure was diagnosed in a 12-year-old cat. Fine needle aspirate cytology revealed high numbers of unsheathed microfilariae and a hepatocellular reaction with no evidence of bacterial infection. The microfilariae were identified as those of Dirofilaria repens by acid phosphatase staining. The high number of microfilariae seen in both the blood and the liver aspirate samples as well as the favourable response to ivermectin amongst other drugs administered, is suggestive that D. repens was the cause of the liver insult. A positive result obtained with an antigen-capture ELISA (Dirochek (r)) for Dirofilaria immitis antigen was interpreted as false. This is the 1st report of Dirofilaria repens for South Africa.
ISSN:1019-9128
2224-9435