Ophthalmic lesions in non-human primates.

Over a Zyear period a number of spontaneous ophthalmic lesions were noted in non-human primates. These included lesions in baboons, old world monkeys, and chimpanzees. The lesions were divided into general etiologic categories of congenital, inflammatory, traumatic, degenerative, and undetermined. Specific Iesions included colobomas, cataracts, detached retina, iridocyclitis, and morphologic changes due to myopia. Clinical and gross and/or histologic descriptions of the lesions were given, and their relative importance in a coIony situation was described. Few reports of spontaneous morphologic lesions in eyes of non-human primates are available, and most are reports of isolated occurrences. WILSON and GAVAN [9] mention one animal with anophthalmia and one with cougenital blindness, but do not identify the type of primate. SCHMIDT [8 ] described colobomas in 3 species of non-human primates, and glaucoma and cataracts in monkeys were discussed by BARANAY [2]. BARANAY considered 2 of his cases to be secondary and 1 probably primary glaucoma. CARPENTER [3] noted peripheral cystoid degeneration in the retina of a 15-year-old chirnpanzee. An owl monkey with idiopathic retinal detachment was reported by AABERG [l], and contagious conjunctivitis due to SV-15 has been noted in a group of rhesus monkeys [6]. This paper describes the results of a systematic 2-year study of the eyes of non-human primates. by guest on November 7, 2016 vet.sagepub.com Downloaded from Ophthalmic Lesions in Non-Human Primates 29 Materials and Methods From 1 January 1969 to 1 January 1971 the eyes of over 100 non-human primates in the 6571st Aeromedical Laboratory (ARL) colony were examined ophthalmoscopically as part of the colony health program. All lesions were recorded and treated, as were cases of spontaneous disease involving the eyes during this period. During this time 401 non-human primates were necropsied at the ARL. These included 284 monkeys (mostly Macacd mulatta), 82 baboons (Papio sp.) , and 35 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). As part of the routine necropsy, the eyes from these animals were removed and processed as previously described [8].