Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease, where the pressure inside the eye ( intra-ocular pressure) rises. This may lead to blindness if the pressure rise is not controlled. There are different medical treatments that may cause a decrease in intraocular pressure. These drugs may be divided in two main groups:
Other means of treatment include: diodelaser therapy of the ciliary body, Cryo ablation of the ciliary body and various shunts (gonio-implants).
The owner of this website, Dr Thomas Ffrangcon Evans, has a particular interest in developing novel surgical techniques for the treatment of glaucoma and should your dog be affected by glaucoma or predisposed (primary glaucoma/goniodysgenesis) your dog may benifit form a consult with Dr Evans. Please contact the Animal Medical Centre Referral Services, Manchester, If you are interested in an appointment.
The causes of glaucoma vary among different spceies, so a detailed review of causes of glaucoma in different animals is given below.
cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs.
Glaucoma in the cat is most often associated with luxation of the lens. The lens comes loose and is stuck in the pupil or between the iris and the cornea inhibiting outflow of water inside the eye. The only sensible solution is removal of the lens (lendectomy) which should be performed by an experienced veterinary ophthalmologist. The complications after lendectomy include post-operative glaucoma, intraocular hemorrhage, retinal detachments. Some veteinary ophthalmologists may chose to implant an artificial lens after removing the luxated lens. Glaucoma may also be secondary to intraocular inflammation as in uveitis or retinal detachments. Congenital glaucoma is only seen in kittens, most commonly Siamese cats.
In dogs glaucoma may be caused by a number of reasons
including:
Athough the causes of glaucoma may vary, the treatment of glaucoma in dogs aim to decrease the production of water (aqueous humor) in the eye and to increase the outflow of water from the eye.
Currently I am focusing on surgery using novel drainage implants in dogs. Other veterinary ophthalmologists commonly use standard drainge implants to increase the outflow of water combined with laser surgery to destroy the ciliary body (where the water is produced).
Medications for the treatment of glaucoma in dogs include:
Topical : Trusopt®, Azopt®, Travatan®, Xalatan®.
Systemic: Diamox®.
In rabbits galucoma is very rare. In certain laboratory strains galucoma is congenital and inherited. In pet rabbits glaucoma is most commenly secondary to intarocular inflammation. This may be caused by trauma or infection.
Trusopt® is effective for the treatment of glaucoma in Rabbits.
In guinea pigs glaucoma has not been reported but may occur secondary to intraocular inflammation and/or infection.
This section of Mammaleye.com is written for Owner's of patients under my therapy. Others may of cause gain knowledge about eye diseases in pets. Remember that other veterinary ophthalmologists may wish to treat diseases of the eye in a different way than myself.
If you as an owner want further information (scientific) about eyedisases then have a look at The Professional's section at mammaleye.com or go to pubmed and do a search on Medline - the main resource of scientific information for the whole medical profession.
