CLINICAL-PATHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF EIGHT DOGS INFECTED BY ANGIOSTRONGYLUS VASORUM IN SOUTHERN ITALY

Angiostrongylus vasorum has been recently reported in central and southern Italy. Although a wide range of clinical signs have been described in association with A. vasorum respiratory disease and the haemorrhagic diatheses predominate. The aim of the present study is to report the different clinical presentations, laboratory and imaging findings of 8 cases of angiostrongilosis. Diagnosis was made by means of larval morphological identification; faecal samples were analysed by the Baermann test and direct microscopic observation. Different treatment protocols were used, and animals weekly monitored by larval detection in faecal samples. These case reports associate different clinical presentations with the presence of A. vasorum infection in dogs and also suggest that angiostrongylosis should be considered as a possible aetiological cause of several clinical conditions. Although A. vasorum can be fatal a prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment may lead to a complete clinical resolution, as it was in the cases described herein