Monitoring a severe Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection in a kitten with point-of-care ultrasound and radiography.

Abstract

A 4-month-old male intact domestic shorthair kitten was referred due to acute onset of severe respiratory distress. Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection was diagnosed by Baermann technique. The kitten showed a fluctuating respiratory status despite anthelmintic and supportive therapy; severe initial distress followed by partial improvement, deterioration by Day 33 and marked recovery by Day 63. Monitoring included clinical examinations, oxygen saturation, faecal analysis, thoracic radiography and lung point-of-care ultrasound on Days 1, 10, 33 and 63. Lung ultrasound and thoracic radiographs consistently revealed diffusely distributed pulmonary disease and pleural involvement. Several pathological lung ultrasound features were identified, such as increased B-lines, subpleural nodules, lung consolidations with and without air-bronchograms, vascular sign and pleural line irregularity. This is the first report comparing lung ultrasound and thoracic radiography in a kitten with Aelurostrongylus abstrusus.