Four Cases of Dirofilaria immitis Infection in Racehorses

概要

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Four racehorses were infected with Dirofilaria immitis. A worm was detected from the right ventricle of the heart in one of them and from the diaphragmatic lobe of the lung in each of the other three. The worm in the right ventricle was 122mm in length and 513μm in width. It was an adolescent female. Its morphology was identical to that of D. immitis. In the cross section of the worms isolated from the pulmonary arteries, the cuticle was thick and distinguished to have three layers formed with a pair of broad lateral cords situated symmetrically. There were internal longitudinal cuticular ridges in the portion of the lateral cords. The worms seemed to be female, because they contained many oocyte cells in the uteri when examined histologically. All of them revealed the transverse striation on the outer surface of the cuticle, but no longitudinal ridges. According to these morphological findings and measurements, all the worms were identified as immature D. immitis. The lesions of parasitic pulmonary embolism which had been caused by D. immitis in the horses were similar to those in the dog.
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