RT Journal Article
T1 Echocardiographic Assessment of the Pulmonary Vein to Pulmonary Artery Ratio in Canine Heartworm Disease
A1 Isidoro Matos, Jorge
A1 Caro Vadillo, Alicia
A1 Falcón-Cordón, Yaiza
A1 García-Rodríguez, Sara Nieves
A1 Costa-Rodríguez, Noelia
A1 Carretón, Elena
A1 Montoya-Alonso, José Alberto
AB 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 the pulmonary vein to pulmonary artery ratio (PV:PA ratio) to determine moderate or severe PH (>50 mmHg) in dogs with heartworm disease. Methods: A total of 151 naturally heartworm-infected and 66 healthy dogs were included in the study. The presence/absence of PH was based on the right pulmonary artery distensibility index (RPAD index < 29.5%), and the PV:PA ratio was echocardiographically measured by the time–motion mode (M mode) and two-dimensional mode (2D mode). Other echocardiographic parameters were also assessed (pulmonary trunk to aorta ratio, tricuspid regurgitation pressure gradient, and AT:ET ratio). Results: The results of the PV:PA ratio showed a highly positive correlation between the M and 2D modes (r = 0.928). The PV:PA ratio obtained by the M mode was identified as the strongest predictor for RPAD index (R2 0.628, p < 0.0001) with a good diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.99). The results of PV/PA by the 2D mode showed a similar prediction for the RPAD index (R2 0.606, p < 0.0001) with a good diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.98). Both of the 2D and M modes’ PV:PA ratios decreased significantly with the presence of PH. A cut-off value of ≤0.845 showed high sensitivity and specificity for the M mode (97% and 94%, respectively) and the 2D mode (96% and 93%, respectively). Conclusions: The PV:PA ratio may be useful as a complementary diagnostic method for the estimation of moderate or severe PH in dogs with heartworm.
PB MDPI
YR 2023
FD 2023-02-17
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103544
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103544
LA eng
NO Matos, J.I.; Caro-Vadillo, A.; Falcón-Cordón, Y.; García-Rodríguez, S.N.; Costa-Rodríguez, N.; Carretón, E.; Montoya-Alonso, J.A. Echocardiographic Assessment of the Pulmonary Vein to Pulmonary Artery Ratio in Canine Heartworm Disease. Animals 2023, 13, 703. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ani13040703
NO MERCK SHARP & DOHME ANIMAL HEALTH
NO Gobierno de Canarias
NO Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria
DS Docta Complutense
RD 31 dic 2025