Common ocular diseases in general practice

Before going to a veterinary ophthalmologist, patients suffering from ocular diseases will first find their way into their general practitioners office. During an interview with dvm360 at the Fetch Long Beach conference in Long Beach California, Jennifer Sheahan, DVM, DACVO, shared how dry eye can present itself in the clinic, and the outcome of it for patients suffering.

Below is a partial transcript:

Jennifer Sheahan, DVM, DACVO: So we often see dry eye in the veterinary ophthalmology field, and the most common cause for dry eye is autoimmune. People get dry eye as well. So the most common treatment for dry eye is immunosuppressants topically, just like in people, people have Restasis because with chronic dry you can go blind, it's itchy, it's uncomfortable, you can get ulcers and infections in the eye. You get eyelid masses. You know, little lumps and bumps as we get older, people get them.

The same thing with animals. So you get eyelid masses. The good [and] Interesting thing about eyelid masses is that 87% of them are benign. So you know, the key to eyelid mass issues on the eyelid is that you want to take care of them early on, because once they exceed 25% of the eyelid margin. Then you have to borrow tissue from your forehead or cheek to recreate your eyelid they have come too big to do primary closure.