tvpjournal.com | July/August 2015 | TodAy's VeTerinAry PrAcTice
obserVATions in oPhThAlmology Peer reviewed
71
eyelid disease is a common clinical challenge
for general practitioners. erythema, alopecia,
edema, and conjunctival hyperemia are hallmark
signs that occur due to pronounced vascularity
of the eyelids. infammation may be focal or
diffuse, affecting one or both eyes, with variable
involvement of all 4 eyelids.
This article reviews common clinical presentations
of canine blepharitis, and provides a systematic
approach to eyelid disease for the general practitioner.
ANATOMY: REVIEW OF EYELIDS
& TEAR FILM
Eyelids
The eyelids primarily:
1,2
• Protect and exclude light from the eye
• Produce a portion of liquid tears
• Provide a mechanism to spread preocular tear film
across the cornea and bulbar conjunctiva.
eyelids are upper and lower folds of skin
continuous with the planes of the facial skin.
1
The edges of the upper and lower eyelids meet
to form the lateral and medial canthi (Figure
1). The eyelids rest on the globe, and while
the upper eyelid contains 2 to 4 rows of cilia
(eyelashes), the lower eyelid does not contain
cilia.
1
The modified sweat glands, referred to as
the glands of Moll, open onto the eyelid margin
near the base of the cilia. The glands of Zeis are
sebaceous glands that are found in the tarsal
plate and open onto the eyelid margin posterior
to the cilia.
clinical Approach to canine eyelid disease:
Blepharitis
Brian L. White, DVM, and Ellen B. Belknap, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVO & ACVIM (Large Animal)
Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital, Akron, Ohio
FIGURE 1. Anatomy of the eye: Third eyelid (a), medial canthus (B), nasolacrimal duct (C), inferior
lacrimal punctum ( D), meibomian glands (e), orbicularis oculi muscle (F), lateral canthus (G). Courtesy
Dr. Lisa Wirth