We are glad to share a vet case study captured by QuikVue eye imaging adaptor from Dr. Allison Fuchs.

Who’s up for some systemic disease discussion? This dog presented for glaucoma in the left eye - at the primary care vet, her intraocular pressure was in the 90s! Normal is 12-25mmHg, so that’s incredibly abnormal. They started some meds and referred, and some of the corneal edema had died down by the time she came to me. As you can see in the image, she has hyphema (blood in the front of the eye), as well as some bleeding in the back part of the eye. Her pressure was still in the 80s, and the eye was blind. Because this pup was a little older and due to the presence of hyphema, we went looking for causes for the blood and high pressure - primary(inherited) glaucoma rarely causes that much bleeding, and usually crops up in middle aged dogs. We found this pup’s systemic blood pressure was markedly elevated and her kidney values were high! High blood pressure (hypertension) can cause bleeding inside the eye, and subsequently glaucoma from the inflammation and damage, which is what I suspect happened here. Hypertension can also be linked to kidney disease. We started this dog on additional eye medication to help control pressure in the eye, blood pressure medication, and will have her follow up with us for the eyes and her primary care for the systemic concerns. This is a great example of how ocular disease can point us to systemic issues, and the importance of coordination and cooperation between care teams so that we can keep our patients healthy and happy.