Breed prevalence of canine ulcerative keratitis according to depth of corneal involvement

Abstract

Objective To investigate the breed prevalence of canine ulcerative keratitis (UK) according to the depth of corneal involvement. Procedures Dogs diagnosed with ulcerative keratitis from 2008 to 2017 at the Triangle Animal Eye Clinic were included in this study. Only breeds with more than 20 eyes affected were selected. UK lesions were classified as superficial (Grade 1), stromal (Grade 2) or descemetoceles and perforations (Grade 3) and compared between brachycephalic (BC) and non‐BC dog breeds. Results Of 8877 dogs evaluated at Triangle Animal Eye Clinic from 2008 to 2017, 1109 eyes of 1018 dogs (male, 326 eyes; neutered male, 253 eyes; female, 211 eyes; spayed female, 316 eyes; and unknown sex, 3 eyes) aged between 0.1 and 19.2 years (mean ± standard deviation [SD], 8.33 ± 4.24 years) were diagnosed with UK. The number of eyes that was classified as Grade 1 was 359 eyes (187 non‐BC and 172 BC), Grade 2 was 373 eyes (60 non‐BC and 313 BC) and Grade 3 was 377 eyes (47 non‐BC and 330 BC). Significant differences were observed between BC and non‐BC dogs for all grades of UK. BC dogs were significantly more frequently affected by Grades 2 and 3 and less frequently by Grade 1 UK (P < .01). French bulldogs are more likely to be affected with Grade 1. Conclusions Brachycephalic dogs are more likely to have deeper corneal involvement in UK. This study provides novel data on the prevalence of superficial UK, which was low in BC dogs and high in non‐BC breeds.

Assessment of the inter‐rater agreement of corneal cytology and culture findings in canine ulcerative keratitis

“…Ulcerative keratitis in dogs is one of the most common conditions encountered in ophthalmology practice (Ledbetter & Gilger 2013, Iwashita et al . 2020). In part, this can be attributed to the rise in popularity of brachycephalic breeds which are twenty times more likely to be affected with ulcerative keratitis compared to non‐brachycephalic dogs and are more likely to have deeper corneal involvement (Packer et al .…”

“…2015, Iwashita et al . 2020). This agrees with the findings of this study where brachycephalic breeds were over‐represented (73% of cases).…”

“…Corneal ulceration is one of the most common ophthalmic conditions seen in our canine patients (Ledbetter & Gilger 2013, Iwashita et al . 2020). Uncomplicated superficial ulcers usually heal within 5 to 7 days with little scarring and thus minimal interference with vision.…”

Case Report: The First Report on Moraxella canis Isolation From Corneal Ulcer in a Bulldog

“…Corneal ulcer in dogs has been reported as an important ophthalmic disorder (19,20). A survey from 2001 to 2014 in Austria about canine ophthalmic diseases showed that 46 of the 245 dogs with corneal diseases got corneal ulcers (or 18.8%) (21).…”

French Bulldogs differ to other dogs in the UK in propensity for many common disorders: a VetCompass study

“…A previous UK study using primary-care clinical data reported the French Bulldog at 7.25 times the adjusted odds of corneal ulceration compared to crossbred dogs [ 15 ] while another UK primary-care study of disorder prevalence reported corneal ulceration as affecting 2.1 % of French Bulldogs annually [ 44 ]. French Bulldogs also featured highly in a referral study of corneal ulceration in Japan [ 77 ]. Although corneal ulceration can follow a variety of primary (e.g., spontaneous chronic corneal ulceration [ 78 ], canine herpes virus-1 [ 79 ]) and secondary triggers (e.g., entropion [ 80 ], ectopic cilia [ 81 ], keratoconjunctivitis sicca [ 82 ], corneal degeneration [ 83 ], trauma [ 84 ] and general anaesthesia [ 85 ]), many of these factors are also associated with the brachycephalic phenotype [ 11 , 59 , 82 , 86 ].…”