Diagnostics and clinical picture features of feline ophthalmopathy associated with paraneoplastic syndrome

Abstract

Ophthalmopathy cases associated with paraneoplastic syndrome are rare and poorly studied disorders caused by long-term tumor impact. They are of great scientific interest within the framework of early diagnosis and prognosis of the oncological process. This paper discusses a scientifically based approach to the study of clinical, ophthalmological and morphological characteristics of feline ophthalmopathy cases associated with paraneoplastic syndrome. During the research, we used a comprehensive methodological approach that included clinical, laboratory, instrumental, morphological and ophthalmological research methods. The study involved 324 animals with spontaneous malignant neoplasms of various histogenesis and localization. It was found that in 28% of cases (91 cats), pathologies of the visual organ were noted in animals; in 19.7% of cases (64 cats) there were ophthalmopathy cases associated with paraneoplastic syndrome occurring in the form of endogenous uveitis with a predominance of inflammatory processes in the posterior part of the vascular membrane. The clinical signs of endogenous chorioretinitis were as following: opalescence of moisture in the anterior chamber of the eye (48.4%), mydriasis (68.8%), decreased pupil response (37.5%), lens opacity (51.6%), opacity of vitreous body (65.6%), hemorrhages on the fundus (32.8%), the presence of hyporeflexia foci (20.3%) and hyperreflexia of tapetum (32.8%). The development of toxic cataracts, secondary uveal glaucoma, dystrophy and retinal detachment are among the most unfavorable complications leading to a decrease or complete loss of visual function. According to the results of morphological studies, ophthalmopathy cases associated with paraneoplastic syndrome were most often recorded in carcinomas (32.8%), squamous cell carcinoma (29.7%), lymphomas (23.4%), as well as sarcomas (12.5%), in one case of melanoma (1.6%). In 23.4% of cases, metastases without invasions of the visual organ were found.