Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blue iris color in one eye of a male Beagle dog
By Shibuya, K et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2003·Nippon Institute for Biological Science, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Unilateral ocular subalbinism in a laboratory Beagle dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A male laboratory Beagle had a blue discoloration in the left eye but showed no signs of vision problems. Upon examination, the vet found that the eye's structure was mostly normal, but there were very few pigment cells in the front part of the affected eye. This condition, called unilateral ocular subalbinism, means that the eye lacks normal pigmentation, which can affect how it reflects light. Fortunately, the dog did not experience any visual impairment and the right eye remained healthy.
People also search for: Beagle eye problems · dog blue iris · ocular subalbinism in dogs · why is my dog's eye discolored
Abstract
Blue discoloration of the iris was found in the left eye of a male laboratory Beagle dog, which had a normal tricolor coat and clinically showed no visual impairment. Ophthalmoscopically, the affected eye revealed red-colored tigroid fundus, in which no tapetum was present. The retinal vasculature and the optic disc showed no noticeable changes. Histopathologically, in the left eye melanocytes had extremely few melanin granules in the anterior segment, including the anterior border layer, in the stroma and sphincter muscle of the iris and in the stroma of the ciliary body and choroid. However, the posterior pigment epithelium of the iris, the pigment epithelium of the ciliary body and the retinal pigment epithelium showed normal pigmentation. The tapetal elements were completely absent. Number and distribution of the S-100 protein-positive melanocytes with or without melanin granules in the iris, ciliary body and choroid of the left eye were similar to those of the normal right eye. Ultrastructurally, melanocytes in the anterior segment of the affected iris possessed no or few melanosomes which were incompletely melanized. In the right eye, no abnormal features were observed. Based on these results, the present case was diagnosed as unilateral ocular subalbinism with tapetal aplasia in a Beagle dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12753621/