Site Menu:
This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below: |
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Eye Diseases » Topics on Eye Diseases Not Covered Above » |
Discussion on Corneal Degeneration | |
Author | Message |
Member: sdms |
Posted on Friday, Jan 22, 2010 - 12:37 pm: Hello Dr. O. I'm wondering if you have any experience with, or can point me in the right direction for information on, corneal degeneration. I'm finding very limited information on the internet.It's my understanding that there's really no treatment, just management. Any additional information you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks, Sara |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Friday, Jan 22, 2010 - 5:54 pm: Hello Sara,Corneal degeneration is not so much a diagnosis but a pathological description that may have several causes. Infectious keratitis would be the most common cause but trauma might be a cause also. As to whether this might be treatable will depend on the severity and cause of the degeneration. Do we have a indentifiable cause here? DrO |
Member: sdms |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 24, 2010 - 12:15 am: Hi Dr. O. We're not 100% certain of the cause but the specialist we're currently seeing noted the diagnosis on our initial visit as "Corneal ulcer of the right eye with secondary complication (R/O eosinophilic keratitis, chronic superficial keratitis, etc." During that visit a scraping was taken for cytology +/- culture which came back normal and negative for bacteria/fungal infection.On my initial visits to my vet prior to seeing the specialist, the eye did not take up stain and they could not detect an ulcer. With this info the specialist thought that the ulcer she appreciated could have been caused after the fact by trauma. The mare had been kept in a fly mask with tape on the inside of the right side so she was unable to see and might have bumped something. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 24, 2010 - 9:27 am: Sara, if trauma is the cause the main objectives will be to prevent infection while promoting healing. Many of the principles of treating primary infectious ulcerative keratitis apply. Check out Diseases of Horses » Eye Diseases » Corneal Ulcers, Fungal and Bacterial Keratitis.DrO |
Member: sdms |
Posted on Sunday, Jan 24, 2010 - 10:55 am: Thank you, Dr. O. I had, actually, read that article prior to posting and we had treated as indicated in the article with serum, anti-biotic ointments and banamine. A large portion of the cornea was debrided at the time the scraping for the culture was taken which, obviously, caused a very large ulcer. This ulcer healed quickly (within a week) with treatment and the eye did not take any stain at the next visit.What we've been dealing with for the past two weeks is thickening/cloudiness of the cornea with no ulcer, a little painfulness, puffy eyelid and tearing. We're treating with an antibiotic ointment with dex 2x a day and Optimmune 1x daily since last Thursday. There does appear to be some improvement (eyelid not as puffy and less tearing) with this new protocol. Of course, I have to wonder if that's because there's less irritation to the eye because I'm only treating it 3 times a day vs the previous 8 to 12 times. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 7:07 am: This cloudiness represents corneal edema and not degeneration, it is caused by abnormal uptake of water when the cornea has inflammation. This could be part of the healing process following an ulcer and the time frame of two weeks not unusually long, the cornea is slow to heal completely. You have to be careful that it does not represent the onset of secondary infection as that will lead you back down the road to another ulcer.DrO |
Member: sdms |
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 8:59 am: Thank you for your opinion, Dr. O. Since you have not suggested any additional references for information on corneal degeneration does that mean you are not aware of any? |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 11:24 am: Hi Sara M, I didn't realize you were the one dealing with this? So sorry. It's always scary when it involves the eys. I hope things go well and you have no more problems. |
Member: sdms |
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 3:36 pm: Thanks, Sara. I really do appreciate the thoughts. I've been following your post regarding Sahira and, honestly, I wouldn't want to trade places with you! Shesa is my old lady and she's handling both the treatment of the eye and the impaired vision very well. She's been the perfect patient. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 5:55 pm: Sara, I am not aware of any primary or idiopathic (no known cause) degenerative disease of the cornea of horses.DrO |
Member: sdms |
Posted on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 7:22 pm: Thanks again, Dr. O. I appreciate your time. |