Degenerations of the dog retina. III. Retinopathy secondary to glaucoma.

ALTHOUGH the effects of glaucoma on the human retina are well known (Duke-Elder, 1940; Wolff, 1951), accounts of the retinal degeneration following glaucoma in the dog are rare. It seemed of interest therefore to record details of two cases, particularly as the degeneration differs from other types reported in this series and follows closely the changes seen in man, except that the area centralis is spared in contra-distinction to the early changes in the human macula. The early recognition of glaucoma in animals is uncertain owing to the absence of subjective information and the difficulty of assessing changes of intra-ocular tension clinically. However, there is one syndrome following spontaneous luxation of the lens in which a diagnosis can be made before the general eye structures are seriously disorganized. This syndrome, which is described by Formston (1945), affects Smooth-coated Fox Terriers and Sealyhams and is due to an inherited weakness of the suspensory ligaments of the lens, which rupture spontaneously in early adult life, causing luxation ofthe lens and secondary glaucoma. One case of this syndrome is described together with one of glaucoma secondary to idiopathic irido-cyclitis.