Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How nuclear sclerosis affects vision and focusing in dogs
By Francis, Jenelle M et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2024·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Quantifying refractive error in companion dogs with and without nuclear sclerosis: 229 eyes from 118 dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 118 dogs was examined for eye problems, specifically looking at how nuclear sclerosis (a common age-related eye condition) affected their vision. The study found that as the severity of nuclear sclerosis increased, there was a slight rise in myopia (nearsightedness), with more severe cases showing a higher percentage of dogs with significant myopia. While nuclear sclerosis was linked to some visual impairment, the connection to myopia was weak. This suggests that while older dogs may have vision issues, myopia isn't a major concern related to nuclear sclerosis.
People also search for: dog eye problems nuclear sclerosis · myopia in dogs · aging dog vision issues
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between nuclear sclerosis (NS) and refractive error in companion dogs. ANIMALS STUDIED: One hundred and eighteen companion dogs. PROCEDURES: Dogs were examined and found to be free of significant ocular abnormalities aside from NS. NS was graded from 0 (absent) to 3 (severe) using a scale developed by the investigators. Manual refraction was performed. The effect of NS grade on refractive error was measured using a linear mixed effects analysis adjusted for age. The proportion of eyes with >1.5 D myopia in each NS grade was evaluated using a chi-square test. Visual impairment score (VIS) was obtained for a subset of dogs and compared against age, refractive error, and NS grade. RESULTS: Age was strongly correlated with NS grade (p < .0001). Age-adjusted analysis of NS grade relative to refraction showed a mild but not statistically significant increase in myopia with increasing NS grade, with eyes with grade 3 NS averaging 0.58-0.88 D greater myopia than eyes without NS. However, the myopia of >1.5 D was documented in 4/58 (6.9%) eyes with grade 0 NS, 12/91 (13.2%) eyes with grade 1 NS, 13/57 (22.8%) eyes with grade 2 NS, and 7/23 (30.4%) eyes with grade 3 NS. Risk of myopia >1.5 D was significantly associated with increasing NS grade (p = .02). VIS was associated weakly with refractive error, moderately with age, and significantly with NS grade. CONCLUSIONS: NS is associated with visual deficits in some dogs but is only weakly associated with myopia. More work is needed to characterize vision in aging dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37986551/