Uveitis in septic foals - serial cases report

[Uveíte em potros sépticos - relato de série de casos]

Uveitis is the most common ocular alteration in septic foals. Despite its importance, its detection still is a challenge for equine clinicians, and survived foals can maintain ophthalmic sequelae if not briefly treated. This report aims to describe ophthalmic findings and the outcome in nine septic foals at Pelotas University Veterinary Hospital (HCV-UFPel). All patients were diagnosed with sepsis according to clinic and laboratorial parameters. The main uveitis findings were conjunctival hyperemia, fibrin and flare in anterior chamber, iris change of color, low intraocular pressure. Topically, the election treatment for all foals was two eye drops of Prednisolone 1%, with varied frequency, until recovery of ophthalmic parameters. There was 66% of favorable recuperation in total foals and 100% of visual recovery in survived foals, with complete ocular pathway transparency. This report shows that in the foals where systemic disease recovery occurred, a proper and early topical treatment of uveitis could lead to good visual prognosis.

Keywords:
ophthalmology; neonatology; systemic disease; anterior uveitis; iridocyclitis