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 » Anterior Uveitis, Recurrent Uveitis, Periodic Opthalmia, and Moonblindness »
  Discussion on Possible uveitis?
Author Message
Member:
annknigh

Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 2:52 pm:

Dr. O,
Two days ago, I noticed that my horse's eye mask had fallen off, and they flies were bothering him. He had a small stream of clear fluid running down from his eye. I put the fly mask on and a few hours later noticed that the flys were sitting on top of the mask over his eye area. When I took the mask off there was a glob of thick mucuous in the anterior corner of his eye. I called the vet who came out and upon examination noticed a grid/cross hatching across the eye. She described it as grid lines that went up and down and were across the entire eye upon internal exam (without dialation)

She put steroids in the eye. I had previously put antibiotics in the eye earlier. The next day the eye was totally back to normal. On the second day following the goopy eye, the vet dialated the eye to better visualize what she thought was a cataract. Upon dialation the lines had been pulled to the periphery and were shortened around the periphery with the middle of the eye free of lines. The vet was unsure what this was, but theorized that it was something attached to the iris. She is suspicious of ERU, but this horse has no real history (at least in the past 3 years) of eye problems. I seem to recall one time last summer that his other eye may have been a tiny bit runny for one day, but cleared up the second day with antibiotics. My other two horses had a flare up at the same time and it seemed that the flys were causing the trouble. The other horses had the situation much worse and required Vet intervention. This particular horse was stalled at the previous stable next to a horse who did have ERU and went blind as a result. He had no direct contact with her however as there was a concrete wall between them.

Do you have a picture of synechiae that you referred to in your texts? The vet did not seem to have a definite idea what the lines might be, but after I read your descriptions, it sounds like what we visualized could be synechiae. I have only seen the lines at this point with the eye dialated, but am planning on looking today or as soon as the dialation wears off.

The vet said it was difficult to visualize the optic disc and that there were some crystalizations in the lens. I saw some central defects that looked like 3 small tear DrOps with the points touching in the middle.

The horse seems like he can see out of that eye as he is able to see a treat and grab it gently when treat is held to his left side (it is his left eye that is affected).

Is there any other possibility for the grid/cross hatching?
Thank you,
Ann
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 7:06 am:

Hello Ann,
Considering it is the eye, that stream of clear fluid is likely tearing. The history of the mask coming off, the glob of mucous, and what sounds like plenty of flies would all be consistent with fly irritation.

Synechiae are usually tags of the iris and appear as pigmented irregular spots of the anterior surface of the lens. Often they are visible without the ophthalmoscope and readily identifiable. I don't think synechiae is consistent with your description.

Quite frankly I remain uncertain of what and where the lesion the veterinarian described is, though it does sound like a lesion of the lens. There are many structures that can be normally present on and in the lens and the questions your veterinarian has suggests to me that further pursuit of this should be done with a referral to a experienced equine ophthalmologist. You can learn more about normal and abnormal structures on the lens at Diseases of Horses » Eye Diseases » Cataracts in Horses.
DrO
Member:
annknigh

Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 12:38 pm:

At first the vet thought it could be a cataract without dilation, but there may be two different things going on. I am familiar with looking at human eyes, but not horse eyes. I saw those things on the lens so that may be one issue, but what seemed to stump the vet were the lines that appeared across the pupil before dilation. But with dilation, these lines were pulled toward the periphery and I saw what looked like stiching...a bunch of crossed lines or random X's that were a few millimeters each in length that surrounded the circumference of the opening...as if they were attached to the iris. The vet said that before dilation that those cross lines were all the way across the pupil. But with dilation, they were pulled to the outer edge. My opthalmoscope needs a new battery so I haven't been able to look again without dilation. So in simple terms, with dilation, it looked like someone drew a bunch of small X's and random lines around the circumference of an empty circle.
Member:
erika

Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 5:18 pm:

After reading about the MRLS and tent caterpillars on the other thread, I couldn't help but wonder if there might be a connection.
One of the problems associated with the caterpillars was uveitis, among other things. Don't know where you live or whether they are present, but might be worth asking your vet about.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 6:49 am:

What tissue are these lines associated with and what is their association? Also what color or how refractile are these lines Ann?

Erika, a caterpillar induced uveitis would be very unlikely and what the asociation of uveitis and caterpillars is as far as I know uncertain.
DrO
Member:
annknigh

Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 11:43 am:

Dr. O
The lines appeared black and without the eye being dilated, they were all the way across the eye like a grid. With dilation, the lines were shortened and pulled to the perimeter and looked like small black x's. The vet said that with the dilation, it looked like the black x's were attached to the iris as they were pulled to the periphery. It literally looked like someone drew an empty circle and put black x's around the perimeter of the circle. The lens also had some issues as it was difficult to visualize the cup and disk. Now, however a few weeks later, the lines are gone and the internal eye is much clearer and you can visualize the cup and disk even without dilation. There is just a slight bit of cloudiness towards the medial aspect anteriorly. The vet is stumped.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jun 1, 2008 - 11:07 am:

I am too Ann.
DrO
Member:
annknigh

Posted on Monday, Feb 16, 2009 - 5:10 pm:

I now have more information regarding my horse's case. He has developed cataracts bilaterally. The vet is suspecting uveitis, although there are no other typical clinical signs. I would like input from anyone who has had the cyclosporin implants or other treatments and the long term outcomes. He still is able to see but the cataracts appear to be fairly well developed. I understand the cyclosporin implants are recommended when there are no cataracts developed, however, my horse has cataracts without any other typical symptoms of uveitis.

Any input is appreciated.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Feb 16, 2009 - 6:46 pm:

Cataracts, a disease of the lens is not a typical development of anterior uveitis. Severe anterior uveitis over time might cause cataracts...maybe. I don't remember one though I have seen dozens of RU cases over the years. For more on this see, Diseases of Horses » Eye Diseases » Cataracts in Horses.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC