Breed prevalence of canine ulcerative keratitis according to depth of corneal involvement.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the breed prevalence of canine ulcerative keratitis (UK) according to the depth of corneal involvement.

PROCEDURES

Dogs diagnosed with ulcerative keratitis from 2008 to 2017 at the Triangle Animal Eye Clinic were included in this study. Only breeds with more than 20 eyes affected were selected. UK lesions were classified as superficial (Grade 1), stromal (Grade 2) or descemetoceles and perforations (Grade 3) and compared between brachycephalic (BC) and non-BC dog breeds.

RESULTS

Of 8877 dogs evaluated at Triangle Animal Eye Clinic from 2008 to 2017, 1109 eyes of 1018 dogs (male, 326 eyes; neutered male, 253 eyes; female, 211 eyes; spayed female, 316 eyes; and unknown sex, 3 eyes) aged between 0.1 and 19.2 years (mean ± standard deviation [SD], 8.33 ± 4.24 years) were diagnosed with UK. The number of eyes that was classified as Grade 1 was 359 eyes (187 non-BC and 172 BC), Grade 2 was 373 eyes (60 non-BC and 313 BC) and Grade 3 was 377 eyes (47 non-BC and 330 BC). Significant differences were observed between BC and non-BC dogs for all grades of UK. BC dogs were significantly more frequently affected by Grades 2 and 3 and less frequently by Grade 1 UK (P < .01). French bulldogs are more likely to be affected with Grade 1.

CONCLUSIONS

Brachycephalic dogs are more likely to have deeper corneal involvement in UK. This study provides novel data on the prevalence of superficial UK, which was low in BC dogs and high in non-BC breeds.