Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pregnant llama lost vision from eye tumor treated by eye removal
By Fugaro, Michael N et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2005·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retinoblastoma in the eye of a llama (Llama glama).
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old pregnant female llama was brought in after experiencing excessive tearing, bulging of the left eye, and sudden vision loss over six months. Despite treatment with eye drops, her condition worsened, leading to a corneal rupture. The veterinarian performed surgery to remove the eye and placed a silicone prosthesis. Tests revealed that the llama had a retinal tumor called retinoblastoma, but four years after the surgery, she showed no signs of the tumor returning.
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Abstract
ANIMAL STUDIED: A 6-year-old, pregnant female llama experienced a 6-month history of epiphora, buphthalmos, and acute loss of vision in the left eye. The condition was unresponsive to topical antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapy and progressed to corneal rupture. PROCEDURES: Transpalpebral enucleation was performed and an intraorbital silicone prosthesis was implanted. The eye was fixed in formalin and processed according to routine paraffin technique. Sections of a mass were immunohistochemically prepared routinely and stained for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), S-antigen, and rhodopsin. RESULTS: Gross, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical analysis revealed a retinal tumor consistent with a retinoblastoma. The neoplastic tissue formed Flexner-Wintersteiner and Homer-Wright rosettes, originated from the retina, and demonstrated photoreceptor differentiation with S-antigen and rhodopsin expression. Neoplastic cells were negative for GFAP. Four years after enucleation, the llama showed no signs of recurrent neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: This report describes the diagnosis and successful treatment of the first known retinoblastoma in a llama.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16008711/