title: Comparison of serological tests for the detection of natural heartworm infection in cats.
abstract: Serological tests were performed on 380 cats with necropsy-confirmed heartworm disease to compare the performance of currently available commercial laboratory and point-of-care heart-worm serological tests in a heartworm-endemic area. Overall, antigen tests detected 79.3% to 86.2% of heartworm infections and were highly specific. Most cats with false-negative antigen tests had a single male worm. Antibody tests detected 62.1% to 72.4% of heartworm infections and had a wider range of false-positive results (1.4% to 19.1%) than antigen tests (0.3% to 2.0%). Serological tests for feline heartworm infection varied in diagnostic performance. Combining results from antigen and antibody tests achieved greater sensitivity than using either test alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal, Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berdoulay
authors.forename: Julie K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Patti S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pegelow
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hooks
authors.forename: Larissa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Marc E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Salute
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000276:immunology*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002415:Cats; D004182:Dirofilaria / Q000276:immunology*; D004184:Dirofilariasis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth