Felis ISSN 2398-2950
Blepharitis
Contributor(s): Dennis E Brooks, Peter Renwick, David Scarff, David Williams
Introduction
- Cause: generalized skin disease, eg parasitic, bacterial, fungal, allergic or immune mediated.
- Signs: inflamed eyelids, ocular discharge.
- Diagnosis: signs, bacteriology, skin scraping, Wood's lamp examination.
- Treatment: often need systemic antibiotics +/- warm compresses.
- Prognosis: self-trauma is common complication; Staphylococcal blepharitis can be difficult to resolve.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
Parasitic
Fungal infection
Bacterial
- Bacterial blepharitis with exudate and erythema and pruritus (may be chronic) - often associated with Staphylococcus spp Staphylococcus spp.
- Hordeolum (external stye).
- Chalazion (internal stye).
Allergic
- Characterized by eosinophilic or mast cell infiltration
Immune-mediated
Traumatic
Pathophysiology
- Underlying skin disease or infection (Staphylococcus spp Staphylococcus spp often isolated) → inflammation of eyelids. If abscess formation may → cicatricial entropion or ectropion .
- Many possible etiologies.
Timecourse
Diagnosis
This article is available in full to registered subscribers
Sign up now to purchase a 30 day trial, or
Login
Treatment
This article is available in full to registered subscribers
Sign up now to purchase a 30 day trial, or
Login
Outcomes
This article is available in full to registered subscribers
Sign up now to purchase a 30 day trial, or
Login
Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Bistner S (1994) Allergic- and immunologic-mediated diseases of the eye and adnexae. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 24 (4), 711-734 PubMed.
- Glaze M B (1991) Ocular allergy. Semin Vet Med Surg 6 (4), 296-302 PubMed.
- Peiffer R L, Cook C S, Möller I (1984) Therapeutic strategies involving antimicrobial treatment of ophthalmic disease in small animals. JAVMA 185 (10), 1172-1175 PubMed.
- Peiffer R L Jr. (1980) Ocular immunology and mechanisms of ocular inflammation. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 10 (2), 281-302 PubMed.
Other sources of information
- Petersen-Jones S & Crispin S (2002) BSAVA Manual of Small Animal Ophthalmology. 2nd edn. British Small Animal Veterinary Association. ISBN 0 905214 54 4