ABSTRACT
Radiography is valuable for determining the presence and severity of heartworm disease. Survey radiographs of the thorax provide valuable information on the extent and degree of change in the pulmonary parenchyma, pulmonary arteries, and the heart. Radiography provides information about the topographic location and extent of the thoracic disease and assists in the planning and assessment of a treatment program. Successful radiography of the thorax is limited by a number of factors and these falls into two groups. The first includes technical problems and requires a basic knowledge of the equipment available and in what circumstances it should be used. The second involves knowledge of the problems associated with radiography of the thorax generally and in animals, in particular. The severity of radiographic signs is, in general, correlated with the severity of the clinical signs. They are dependent on the number of heartworms, the duration of infestation, and the severity of the reaction to the presence of the worms.
