Vision outcome with antiglaucoma therapy and prognostic factors in canine glaucoma: A 6-years retrospective study in Japan

Abstract

Vision outcome provides invaluable information in clinical decision making in the management of canine glaucoma. In the present study, data of glaucoma dogs were retrospectively evaluated for vision outcome by treatment modality (with or without surgical implantation of the Ahmed glaucoma valve, AGV) and by type of glaucoma, sex and breed in cases of medically treated glaucoma. Among 1990 dogs presented with eye diseases between 2011 and 2017, 224 dogs (11.3%) were diagnosed with glaucoma at initial presentation and 228 eyes of 207 dogs have follow-up records of at least 30 days were included in the analysis. At the time of first presentation, 62/228 eyes (27.2%) were visual. Visual preservation rates were constantly significantly higher in dogs that received AGV placement with a median time to vision loss of 76.4 weeks vs. 9.6 weeks in dogs that received medical treatment alone. Among dogs treated medically, vision outcome was comparable between two types of glaucoma (i.e., primary and secondary) and between sexes. Medically treated Shiba dogs showed significantly lower vision preservation rates and a shorter median time to vision loss compared to other breeds. These results suggest that AGV implants result in better vision outcome compared to medical therapy alone and should be considered in dogs that are visual at the time of presentation and suitable for surgery. And Shiba dogs are considered as the factor that indicate poor vision outcome of medical treatment alone in the present study.