Braz. J. vet. Res. cinim. Sci., So Paulo, v. 34, n. 5, p. 276-277, 1997.

Florida spots in dogs and cats. A clinical study in So Paulo - Brazil

Flrida spots em ces e gatos. Estudo clnico em So Paulo - Brasil
Paulo Srgio de Moraes BARROS1; Angelica Mendona Vaz SAFATLE2

CORRESPONDENCE TO: Paulo Srgio de Moraes Barros Departam ento de Cirurgia Faculdade de Medicina Veterinria e Zootecnia da USP Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87 - Cidade Universitria Arm ando de Salles O liveira 05508-900 - So Paulo - SP Brasil e-m ail: pauloeye@ usp.br 1 - Departam ento de Cirurgia Faculdade de Medicina Veterinria e Zootecnia da USP 2 - H ospital Veterinrio Faculdade de Medicina Veterinria e Zootecnia da USP

SUMMARY
Florida spots were described in Southeastern United States and seems to happen only in tropical or subtropical areas. The disease was described in 10 dogs and 7 cats. In this study, animals presented several white or gray-white round opacities in the corneal stroma. The eyes did not present any inflammatory or discomfort signs. Treatment with corticosteroid or antifungal drugs was not effective. This is the first description of cases of the disease in Brazil. UNITERMS: Corneal diseases; Corneal opacity; Dogs; Cats.

w ere p re se n te d to the O p h th alm o lo g y S ectio n of the V eterinary H ospital of the U n iversidade de So Paulo. ince 1979 a corneal opacity which happened primarily in A n im als w ere e x am in ed by slit-la m p b io m icro sco p y , cats was described in South Florida (Tucker et a/.4, 1979). tonom etry (Schitz), direct ophthalm oscopy and fluorescein In a prelim inary report, based upon the histological test. appearence of the corneal changes it was considered to be a mycotic RESULTS AND DISCUSSION keratopathy attributed to a fungal organism (Rhinosporidium), and was described in dogs and cats in Southeastern United States (Peiffer Among the dogs there was no breed predisposition, Jr.; Jackson1, 1979), although no specific agent could be since the disease affected three m iniature Poodles, one demonstrated. More recently an acid fast organism was associated C ocker Spaniel, one Boxer, one D oberm ann Pinscher, and with these opacities (Fischer; Peiffer Jr.1, 1987). Morphological studies have demonstrated that the disease is four dogs of m ixed breed. Ages ranged from 9 m onths old indeed a mycobacterial infection, and is possible to reproduce the to 6 years-old, and it seem s that the corneal opacities did disease by taking ground-up corneas from infected animals and not appear in very young or very old dogs. Sex distribution injecting them into the cornea of other animals (Peiffer, 1994)*. rate was six m ales to four fem ales and the opacities were a unilateral presentation in six anim als and bilateral This opacity apparently occurs in tropical and subtropical climates in in four The evolution of the abnom ality ranged from (Whitley et al.5, 1993), and it is characterized by one or several 3 days dogs. to one onth and regarding bilateral presentation multi-sized gray or gray-white round opacities in the stromal area no inform ation mwas on the first side which was of the cornea (Whitley et al.5, 1993; Zigler6, 1994). The central affected. All anim alsobtained presented various degrees of white area of the opacity is more dense and the density decreases in the or gray opacities, difuse in the strom a. No epithelium lesion periphery (Tucker et al.4, 1979). No damage is detected in the was v erified (n eg ativ e F lu o rescein T est), and the eyes epithelium and no discomfort or pain are verified (Nasisse2, 1994). showed no inflam m atory or irritative signs (Fig. I). In two Vessels or other inflammatory signs are not present. It is a self- cases based on the reports by the ow ners, dom iciliary cats limiting disease, and when opacities are not very dense, vision is had the sam e sym ptom s and they may be infected from the not impaired. The disease does not respond to corticosteroid or sam e source or by the transm ission way reported by Peiffer antifungal drug therapy. (1994)*, who infected other anim als injecting them with This study presents 17 cases of Florida spots in cats and corneal m aterial from affected dogs. dogs in So Paulo. These are the first cases reported in our country. T he c a ts, lik e th e d o g s, did not p re se n t breed predisposition since four dom estic short haired cats, two S iam ese cat, and I P ersian cat p resen ted the corneal MATERIAL AND METHOD alteratio n . Sex d istrib u tio n rate was four m ales to two Seventeen animals, 10 dogs (Tab. I) and 7 cats (Tab. 2), fe m a le s. A lth o u g h we c a n n o t say th a t th e re is sex predisposition, cats, like dogs presented a higher incidence in m ales. In four cats the disease was bilateral and in three 'Peiffer Jr., R.L. University of North Carolina - USA. Personal Communication, cats, unilateral. The disease seem s to affect young adult 1994. INTRODUCTION

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BARROS, P.S.M.; SAFATLE, A.M.V. Florida spots in dogs and cats. A clinical study in So Paulo - Brazil. Braz. J. vet. Res. anim . Sci., So Paulo, v. 34, n. 5, p. 1276-277. 1997.

Table 1
Clinical observations of dogs presenting Florida spots. BREED SEX AGE(mo) E V O LU T IO NA N DC H A R A C T E R IS T IC S M mixed 48 1 month, unilateral mixed F 12 10 days, bilateral mixed M 60 1 month, unilateral F mixed 9 7 weeks, unilateral Poodle F 48 5 days, unilateral Poodle M 72 ?, unilateral M Poodle 48 ?, bilateral Boxer M 24 ?, bilateral Cocker spaniel F 12 3 days, bilateral Dobermann M 36 ?, unilateral

Table 2 Clinical observations of cats presenting Florida spots. BREED DSH DSH DSH DSH Siames Siamese Persian SEX AGE(mo) M 48 F 12 F 24 F 36 M 12 F 48 F 12 E V O L U T IO NA N DC H A R A C T E R IS T IC S 3 years, unilateral 3 months, bilateral ?, unilateral 3 months, bilateral 1 month, unilateral 6 months, bilateral 3 months, bilateral

DSH = domestic short haired

animals once the age range was one to four years old with an evolution varying from one month to 3 years. Three cats shared h o u sin g with o th e r cats sh o w in g e v id e n c e o f

disease. Like dogs, lesions were round, dispersed in the stroma. No other sign was observed (Fig.2). Corticosteroid or antifungal drug therapy was ineffective in all the cases.

Figure 1 Mixed breed dog presenting gray-white corneal opacities difuse in the stroma.

Figure 2 A domestic short haired cat presenting gray opacities denser in the center of the lesion in corneal stroma level.

RESUMO
Flrida spots uma afeco da crnea caracterizada por opacidades brancas ou branco-acinzentadas do estroma. Descri ta no sudeste dos Estados Unidos, parece atingir somente animais de regies tropicais ou subtropicais. Os olhos no apresentam sinais de inflamao ou desconforto e no respondem ao tratamento com corticosteride. De etiologia ainda obscura, parece estar relacionada a uma micobactria. Descreve-se pela primeira vez, em nosso pas, esta afeco em 10 ces e 7 gatos. UNITERMOS: Doenas da crnea; Opacidade da crnea; Ces; Gatos.

REFERENCES
1 - FISCHER. C.S.; PEIFFER JR., R.L. Acid fast organism associated with corneal opacities in a dog. Transactions of the Eighteenth Annual Scientific Program of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, Fort Worth, n. 18, p. 241-3, 1987. 2 - NASISSE, M.P. Conjunctival and corneal disease of the cat. Transactions of the North American Veterinary Conference, Orlando. 1994. p. 424. 3 - PE1FFER JR., R.L.; JACKSON, W.F. Mycotic keratopathy of the dog and cat in the Southeastern United States. A preliminary report. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, v. 15, n. I, p. 93-7, 1979.

4 - TUCKER, G.S.; KARPINSKY, L.; FUSELER, W. Morphology and distribution of light-scattering granules in the corneas of South Florida cats. Journal of Cell Biology, v.83, n.2, p. 479A, 1979. 5 - WHITLEY, R.D.; WHITLEY, E.M.; McLAUGHLIN, S.A. Diagnosing and treating disorders of the feline conjunctiva and cornea. Veterinary Medicine, v. 88, n. 12, p. 1138-73, 1993. 6 - ZIGLER, M.M.S. Quirky cat corneas. Proceedings of the Annual Muting of the American Society of Veterinary Ophthalmology, Boston, 1994. p. 11.

Received: 14/7/95 Accepted: 3/12/96

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