Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Raised eyelid mass causing eye blinking in 1-year-old eclectus parrot
By Darden, Joshua E et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2019·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Follicular choristoma in the third eyelid of an eclectus parrot ().
- Species:
- bird
Plain-English summary
A 1-year-old male eclectus parrot was brought to the vet because he had been squinting and showing discomfort in his right eye for about three to four months. Previous treatments hadn’t helped, and a suspected feather was removed from the area earlier. Upon examination, the vet found a small raised mass on the third eyelid, which was surgically removed and later identified as a choristoma, meaning it was a normal feather follicle in the wrong place. Nine months after the surgery, the parrot was doing well with no signs of eye discomfort or regrowth of the mass.
People also search for: eclectus parrot eye problems · parrot blepharospasm treatment · feather follicle issue in birds
Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: A 1-year-old male eclectus parrot () with a 3- to 4-month history of blepharospasm in the right eye was referred to a veterinary medical teaching hospital for further evaluation. Conventional medical treatments had been ineffective. The referring avian specialist had plucked a suspected ectopic feather from the right eye 6 weeks prior to the referral evaluation. CLINICAL FINDINGS: The parrot was sedated, and ophthalmic examination of the right eye with slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed a 3 × 2 × 2-mm raised vascular mass with a focally pigmented center associated with the temporal aspect of the leading edge of the third eyelid. No abnormalities were detected in the left eye. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: The parrot was anesthetized, and the right eye mass was excised and submitted for histologic examination. Histologically, there was a single pigmented feather follicle bulb surrounded by multiple discrete lymphoid follicles and moderate lymphoplasmacytic inflammation within the substantia propria of the third eyelid conjunctiva. The histologically normal feather follicle in an abnormal location classified the lesion as a choristoma. Nine months after surgery, the parrot had no signs of ocular discomfort and no overt regrowth of the feather follicle. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: For the eclectus parrot of this report, a lesion caused by normal differentiation of an ectopic feather follicle in the right third eyelid was successfully treated. A third eyelid choristoma appears to be a hitherto unreported pathological finding in avian species. Although rare, the presence of a choristoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis for birds with blepharospasm.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31194665/