Comparison of six commercial antigen kits for detection of Dirofilaria immitis infections in canines with necropsy-confirmed heartworm status.

Patient-side test kits for detecting antigenemia in dogs associated with sexually mature female heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) have been available for three decades, and these tests are continually updated and improved. To define the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of contemporary antigen detection tests against cardiopulmonary D. immitis burden, we evaluated five patient-side kits-Anigen Rapid One Step (Bio note), SNAP 4Dx Plus Test Kit (IDEXX), WITNESS Heartworm Canine Heartworm Antigen Test Kit (Zoetis), VetScan Canine Heartworm Rapid Test (Abaxis), and Solo Step CH Canine Heartworm Antigen Test (Heska), and one microplate ELISA (DiroCHEK; Zoetis), using archived canine sera divided into five subclasses of female worms (0, 1-5, 6-20, 21-40, and >40).