Introduction
- Abnormal development and growth of the retina resulting in retinal folds, rosettes and sometimes retinal detachment
. - Cause: inherited in many dogs, acquired forms develop from insults experienced in utero or soon after birth.
- Signs: no clinical signs with mild forms; blindness with severe forms; one form is accompanied by skeletal chondrodysplasia.
- Diagnosis: signs, ophthalmoscopic examination.
Diagnosis
Clinical signs
Multifocal, geographic dysplasia
- Retinal folds, rosettes or detachment observed on ophthalmoscopic examination.
- Possible cataracts
- Possible hyaloid remnants (uncommon)
Total dysplasia
- Blindness.
- Dilated pupils.
- Abnormal pupillary light reflexes.
- Cataract.
- Hyaloid remnants.
- Skeletal dwarfism.
- Absence of anterior chamber.
- Other ocular defects.
Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis
- Physiologic folds in the retina of dogs less than 4 months old, due to a disparity in growth between the inner and outer optic cups.
- Post-inflammatory retinal detachment.
- Quiescent chorioretinal scarring.
Sequelae
Prognosis
- Prognosis for vision in dogs with multifocal disease is good.
- Prognosis for vision in dogs with geographic lesions depends upon the amount of retina affected, and whether cataract formation also occurs.
- Dogs with skeletal chondrodysplasia are frequently blind from retinal detachments by 6 months of age.
Sources
Publications
Refereed papers
- Long S E, Crsip S M (1999) Inheritance of multifocal retinal dysplasia in the golden retriever in the UK. Vet Rec 145, 702-704.
- Holle D M, Stankovics M E, Sarna C R et al(1999) The geographic form of retinal dysplasia in dogs is not always a congenital abnormality. Vet Comp Ophthalmol 2 , 61-66.
- Carrig C B, Sponenberg U P, Schmidt G M et al(1988) Inheritance of associated ocular and skeletal dysplasia in Labrador retrievers. J Am Vet Med Assoc 193 , 1269, 1998.
- Myers V N, Jesyk G D, Aguirre G et al(1983) Short-limbed dwarfism and ocular defects in the Samoyed dog. J Am Vet Med Assoc 183, 975.
- Carrig C D, MacMillan A, Brundage S et al(1977) Retinal dysplasia associated with skeletal abnormalities in Labrador retrievers. J Am Vet Med Assoc 170 ,49.
Other sources of information
- Wheeler CA (1997) Disorders of the posterior segment. In: Morgan RV (ed): Handbook of Small Animal Practice.3rd Ed. W B Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 1047-1058.
