Merrill J R, Otis J, Logan W D, Davis M B
JAMA. 1980 Mar 14;243(10):1066-8.
Human infection with the dog heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) may lead to focal pulmonary infarction with granuloma formation. The resulting roentgenographic coin lesion may require a diagnostic thoracotomy in consideration of malignancy. Because of sometimes enigmatic histopathological characteristics, this process may not be receiving the recognition it deserves. Furthermore, the dramatic increase of primary (canine) host infections in the United States presages an increase of secondary (human) host infections. Many thoracotomies will be performed for this innocuous process unless the dirofilarial agent can be controlled or the human pulmonary lesion can be reliably identified without operation.
人类感染犬心丝虫（犬恶丝虫）可能会导致局灶性肺梗死并形成肉芽肿。由此产生的X线胸片上的硬币状病变，考虑到恶性肿瘤的可能性，可能需要进行诊断性开胸手术。由于其组织病理学特征有时难以捉摸，这个过程可能没有得到应有的认可。此外，美国原发性（犬类）宿主感染的急剧增加预示着继发性（人类）宿主感染也会增加。除非能控制住丝虫病原体，或者能在不进行手术的情况下可靠地识别出人类肺部病变，否则许多开胸手术将因这个无害的过程而进行。
