Feline eosinophilic conjunctivitis.

OBJECTIVE: To review 12 cases of histologically confirmed feline eosinophilic conjunctivitis, their clinical, cytologic, histologic and electronmicroscopic findings, results on PCR for FeHV-1, treatment and outcome. ANIMALS STUDIED: Twelve naturally occurring cases presented during a period of 26 months. PROCEDURES: Thorough ophthalmologic examination, conjunctival scrapings performed with the cytobrush method; histologic samples from the palpebral conjunctiva; PCR for FeHV-1 on Schirmer Tear Test (STT) strips; saliva and nasal swabs, and retrospective evaluation of all results. RESULTS: The breed most commonly affected was the Domestic Shorthair (n = 8), followed by Persians (n = 2), Somali (n = 1) and Siamese (n = 1). Age at presentation was 1-15 years with a mean age of 7.2 years. Nine cats were castrated males; three cats were females: two of them were spayed. Unilateral (n = 7) or bilateral (n = 5) involvement with depigmentation and erosions of lid margin, blepharospasm, swelling and redness of conjunctiva and third eyelid were the most common clinical findings. Frequency of eosinophils in cytologic samples was more than 10% in every patient. PCR for FeHV-1 on STT was negative in all cases. Histologically, eosinophils, lymphocytes, plasma cells, mast cells and macrophages were involved. On electronmicroscopy, viral particles were not detected. Ten cases needed long-term anti-inflammatory treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The 12 reviewed cases suggest that feline eosinophilic conjunctivitis is a chronic inflammatory uni- or bilateral disease of the adult cat. Typically the lid margin was also involved, and was thickened, depigmented and erosive. Cytological examination of conjunctival scrapings was a valuable tool for detecting eosinophilic conjunctivitis. The cytological findings correlated well with the histopathological findings in our patients. Topical or systemic anti-inflammatory drugs resolved the clinical symptoms in our cases within a short period of time. Neither electronmicroscopy nor PCR were able to detect involvement of FHV1 in the represented cases. The etiopathogenic role of FeHV-1 remains undetermined.

[Unilateral duplication of the uveal tract in a cat. Coexistence of an excess failure of formation with ocular leukosis]. / Unilateral doppelt angelegter uvealer Trakt bei einer Katze. Koexistenz einer Exzessfehlbildung mit einer okularen Leukose.

A six year old domestic cat, blind in the right eye from birth, slowly lost sight in the left eye. An ophthalmological examination of the right eye revealed uveal leucosis and unilateral duplication of the uveal tract. The additional tissues were rotated through 90 degrees resulting in displacement of the lens. In the left eye evidence of a previous retinal detachment and consecutive traumatic cataract were noted. The etiology of these pathological findings is discussed.

[Secondary open angle glaucoma from osseous choristoma of the ciliary body in guinea pigs]. / Sekundäres Offenwinkel-Glaukom durch ossäre Choristie im Ziliarkörper beim Meerschweinchen.

From 1983 to 1994 enucleated as well as bulbi obtained post mortem from 20 guinea pigs were ophthalmopathologically examined routinely. Eleven cases (one bilateral) with anamneses as hydrophthalmus, exophthalmus or retrobulbar abscess showed histologically osseous choristomas in the stroma of the ciliary body. In one case the osseous choristoma was already macroscopically recognizable. These heterotopic bone formations were causative for a secondary open angle glaucoma. Furthermore, it explains the obscured clinical symptoms of glaucoma together with the resulting exposition keratopathy. The aetiopathogenesis is discussed comparatively.

[Deforming idiopathic ankylosis of the coffin joint in young cattle]. / Deformierende idiopathische Ankylose der Klauengelenke beim Jungrind.

Case reports are given of a deforming ankylosis of the distal interphalangeal joints in two juvenile cattle of the breed German Simmental. In one animal all distal interphalangeal joints were affected; in the second animal the coffin joints of the forelimbs and the lateral coffin joints of the hindlimbs were ankylosed or in the process of being bridged by bone. The condition was painful, resulting in lameness and loss of weight. Clinical, radiological and pathological-anatomical features are described.

[Malignant nictitating membrane tumors in dogs and cats]. / Maligne Nickhauttumoren bei Hund und Katze.

Tumours of the third eyelid in 47 dogs and five cats were examined histopathologically. The clinical observations leading to the tumour diagnosis are presented. The tumours were seen more frequently in the dachshund breed, the affected cats belonged to the European Short-hair breed. The diagnosed tumours of the third eyelid could be histologically classified as adenomas and adenocarcinomas of the gland of the third eyelid, malignant melanomas, squamous cell papillomas and carcinomas of the nictitating membrane, several soft tissue tumours and some cases of pseudoneoplastic hypertrophy of the gland of the third eyelid. Local recurrence of tumour occurred in eight dogs and two cats after resection. Tumour metastasis was confirmed in three dogs. The clinical procedure recommended for avoidance of recurrence is discussed. The differential diagnosis of the malignancies of the third eyelid is described. Questionnaires were designed for the animal owners in an attempt to identify etiopathogenetically important factors, the results of which are discussed.

[Feline ocular melanoma. Clinical and pathologico-anatomic findings in 37 cases]. / Das feline okulare Melanom. Klinische und pathologisch-anatomische Befunde von 37 Fällen.

The clinical and pathological findings of 37 feline ocular melanomas are described. The majority of the tumors examined were diffuse iris-ciliary body melanomas of epithelioid and pleomorphic (anaplastic) cell type with numerous mitotic figures. The majority of the tumors showed invasion of the anterior sclera. Metastases were found in three cases predominantly in the abdominal viscera (liver). The clinical diagnostics as well as the differential diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of feline uveal melanoma are presented. The causal pathogenesis is discussed comparatively.

[Pathology of the retina]. / Pathologie der Netzhaut.

Degenerations (atrophies) of the retina are divided into primary (hereditary) and secondary forms including glaucomatous retinopathy of retinal atrophy. The pathogenesis of inflammation of the retina is considered. This condition generally appears in association with inflammation of the choroid (chorioretinitis), but can also occur as an isolated inflammatory condition during infectious disease (distemper). The functional conditions for retinal detachment, its rhegmatogenous and nonrhegmatogenous types, as well as the consequences of retinal detachment are described. Comparison of the pathology of retinal tumors shows that retinoblastoma is not known in animals. However, neuroepithelial tumors like the so-called acquired adenoma and adenocarcinoma of the mature ciliary epithelium as well as the rare congenital tumors of the embryonic neuroepithelium i.e. the medulloepithelioma and the ganglioneuroma are seen in animals. Finally, the rare but not unusual parasitic retinopathies are mentioned.

[Pathology of the cornea]. / Pathologie der Hornhaut.

The basic pathologic mechanisms of corneal inflammation, including hereditary and degenerative-dystrophic keratopathies, are presented. Inflammatory keratopathies of non-ulcerative and ulcerative forms, which often occur in the ophthalmopathological diagnostics, are described, and special nosological entities are emphasized. The consequences of corneal ulceration are mentioned, and the incidence of neoplastic corneal processes is considered.

[Lens-induced uveitis (endophthalmitis phakoanaphylactica) in domestic animals]. / Die linseninduzierte Uveitis (Endophthalmitis phakoanaphylactica) beim Haustier.

In this paper ophthalmological and clinical results as well as the literature on lens-induced uveitis (LIU), a relatively unknown pathological syndrome in domestic animals, are presented. Out of all ocular material sent to the Institute of Pathology, GSF, from 1970 until 1990 (n = 864), 40 individual cases of LIU (14 cases in dogs, 13 in cats, 10 in rabbits, 1 in a horse and 2 in birds) were diagnosed. The histology of the eyes of the cases is characterized by a lesion of the lens capsule and a consequent reactive phacogenic inflammation of the anterior segment of the eye in the region of the anterior uvea. A comparison of the history and ophthalmological diagnosis indicates that 36 lens-induced uveitis cases occurred following a (spontaneous) traumatic injury to the eye, whereby the anterior lens capsule was perforated with the result of the lens material being exuded into the anterior uvea (iris-ciliary body region). The strongly vascularized anterior uvea is used as a carrier and a connecting link to the immune system. None of the histologically examined cases of LIU were diagnosed as such clinically. This can be explained by the fact that the uveitis is difficult to recognize on account of overlying secondary alterations in the eye. Nevertheless the morphological substrate of LIU is considered to be pathognomonic. The inflammatory and cellular reactions leading to a release of the lens material observed in domestic and laboratory animals exhibit only slight parallels to those observed in man. The case history of animals usually reveals a traumatic injury and an endophthalmitis (with or without secondary glaucoma) which cannot be controlled therapeutically. The therapy for promptly diagnosed cases should be a lens extraction to save the affected eye and its sight. In advanced cases the enucleation of the bulbus is the therapy of choice.

[The occurrence of conjunctivitis of unknown etiology in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus, Shaw 1805)]. / Zum Vorkommen einer Konjunktivitis unbekannter Atiologie bei Wellensittichen (Melopsittacus undulatus, Shaw 1805).

The present paper describes a previously unrecorded conjunctivitis of unknown etiology in the budgerigar. Clinical observation reveals close parallels with "cockatiel conjunctivitis". This disease of the cockatiel is often associated with respiratory symptoms. Clinical and pathological features, as well as therapy of the disease are discussed.

[Unilateral double malformation of the eye and double malformation of the brain in a cat]. / Unilaterale Doppelmissbildung des Auges und Doppelmissbildung des Gehirns bei einer Katze.

An unusual and grotesque congenital deformity of the head involving a duplication of the CNS and the anlage of a third eye in dextroposition (double monster) in a 54 day old kitten, born by caesarean section, is described. The malformation is thought to be caused by exogenous teratogenic influences during the early phase of blastogenesis.

[Adenoma and adenocarcinoma of the iris and ciliary body epithelium in the dog]. / Adenom und Adenokarzinom des Iris-Ziliarkörperepithels beim Hund.

An adenoma and an adenocarcinoma of the anterior uvea in two dogs are described clinically--follow-up included--and ophthalmopathologically. Incidence, therapy, differential diagnosis and prognosis of these epithelial neoplasms in the anterior uvea are discussed.

[Primary intraocular malignant melanomas in dogs and cats]. / Das primär-intraokulare maligne Melanom bei Hund und Katze.

22 primary intraocular malignant melanomas in the dog and 5 in the cat were classified histologically. Pigmented epithelioid cells and mixed cell type melanomas with high reticulin fiber content and areas of necrosis were associated with the highest mortality rate. Metastases were found in one case each in the dog and the cat. The average age at diagnosis was 8 years in the dog and 9 years in the cat. There was no indication that intraocular melanomas are more prevalent in certain breeds. In the dog the cases were equally distributed between the sexes, whereas in the cat males were overrepresented. The most frequent location for the tumor was the uvea anterior (ciliary body). Bilateral tumor expression was observed once in a dog. In all cases the clinical diagnosis, tumor induced secondary effects, differential diagnosis and catamnesis are given.

[Asteroid hyalosis in the dog]. / Asteroide Hyalose beim Hund.

Two cases of asteroid hyalosis in the dog are described. Asteroid hyalosis is a rare degenerative phenomenon in the vitreous body. Ophthalmoscopically it is characterized by spherical, small bodies which gleam brilliantly in the vitreous like stars in the night sky. Histochemically these spherical bodies are a calcium-lipid complex. The etiology of asteroid hyalosis is unknown. The condition usually does not give rise to symptoms and can not be influenced by conservative treatment.

The role of time-factor and RBE for the induction of osteosarcomas by incorporated short-lived bone-seekers.

In a large series of experiments, fractionated injections of short-lived bone-seekers have been shown in many cases to cause a remarkable increase of the osteosarcoma incidence compared with a single administration of the same total skeletal dose. This effect has been observed with both alpha- and beta-emitters. In addition the latency period was shortened by protracting the dose. The total skeletal doses investigated ranged between 0.9 and 20 Gy for alpha-emitters (224Ra and 227Th) and between 28 and 112 Gy for the beta-emitter (177Lu). In all cases the protracted dose had higher or at least equal effects when compared with a single application. Reference experiments with long-lived alpha- and beta-emitting bone-seeking nuclides (226Ra and 90Sr) showed that the incidence of osteosarcomas per Gy was sometimes lower than that observed when the same skeletal dose was applied by protraction of short-lived radionuclides. The dependence of osteosarcoma incidence on dose-time distribution, duration of internal irradiation, and radiation quality is discussed. In this context the possibility that the critical initial dose rate may be related to the initiating event within the multi-stage hypothesis of carcinogenesis is considered.