Description

Veterinarians who are confronted by an unsymmetrical appearance of the globe may have difficulties determining whether they are looking at a case of proptosis (an eye that is protruding outside the orbit, usually due to trauma), exophthalmos (an eye that is pushed forward relative to its normal position, but is still in the orbit) or buphthalmos (an enlarged, glaucomatic globe). This talk will help you diagnose and treat proptosis and exophthalmos, and differentiate them from buphthalmos. Owners of pets with traumatic prolapse will want to know whether the eye can be saved. Prognostic indicators which will help you answer the question include species and breed; extent of trauma to the skull and eye; number of torn extraocular muscles; and time elapsed since surgery. Ultrasound and PLR evaluation are two important tests that will help determine prognosis. The key points in successful replacement of the globe will be discussed. Buphthalmos can be differentiated from exophthalmos based on examining the position of the eye from above and laterally, checking for third eyelid prolapse, performing the retropulsion test, and estimating corneal curvature. Tonomtery and ultrasound will provide a definitive answer. In most cases, exophthlamos is caused by a retrobulbar abscess or tumor. These may be differentiated based on history of an acute onset, presence of pain and an oral cavity examination. Ultrasounded guided fine needle aspiration will provide a definitive diagnosis. Treatment of both causes will be discussed. Ron Ofri was a member of the charter class of the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Upon his graduation he traveled to the University of Florida, where he spent the next 4 years undergoing clinical training in veterinary ophthalmology and obtaining his Ph.D. During this time Ron developed an interest in the physiology of vision, focusing on retinal electrophysiology and changes in visual function resulting from glaucoma. Upon his graduation Ron returned to Israel and joined the faculty of his alma mater, where he is currently a Professor in veterinary ophthalmology and winner of numerous Teacher of the Year awards. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ron expanded his research interests to include comparative visual physiology in wildlife species, and to date has published more than 75 refereed papers. Ron is also a very popular international speaker, having been invited to talk in more than 30 countries and 6 continents, lecturing in continuing education seminars, national meetings and world congresses for general practitioners, including BSAVA, SEVC, WSAVA and NAVC. He also lectures frequently in advanced training courses for veterinary ophthalmologists, including lectureship at the Basic Science Course of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (where he has been speaking since 2002) and numerous other forums. Ron is a contributing author to the Gelatt's classic textbook Veterinary Ophthalmology (3rd, 4th and 5th editions) as well as a co-author of the popular textbook Slatter's Fundamentals of Veterinary Ophthalmology (4th and 5th editions). Ron is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Ophthalmology (ECVO), a former ECVO Executive Board member and in 2002-2005 he served as President of the European Society of Veterinary Ophthalmology.

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