Eye Injuries in Cats with Head Trauma

Abstract

Head trauma may lead to damage of soft tissue and bones of skull by an external force. The modified Glasgow coma scale (mGCS) is used to evaluate the prognosis and classify the neurological status of cats and dogs with head trauma. The aim of this study is determine the ophtalmic pathologies and the incidence of these pathologies as a result of head trauma in cats. In addition, any possible correlation between intraocular pressure (IOP) and mGCS will be investigated in traumatized cats. The animal material of the study consisted of 18 cats with acute head trauma. The animals were properly restricted so that mGCS scores were recorded. Systematic eye examination was performed as far as the clinical condition of the patient allowed during the clinical examination and treatment of the traumatized cats. Proptosis was observed in 4 cats (22.22%) as unilaterally in 3 cats and bilaterally in 1 cat. Subconjunctival hemorrhage was observed in 7 cats (38.88%) as bilaterally in 2 cats and unilaterally in 5 cats. Unilateral hyphema was observed in 2 cats (11.11%). Three cats had anisocoria (16.66%), 2 cats had unilateral nystagmus (11.11%), and 1 cat had unilateral Horner's syndrome (5.55%). In cats with glaucoma the median mGCS was 8 (score 4-15), while non-glaucoma the median mGCS was 9 (score 6-14). However, no statistical correlation was found between mGCS and glaucoma (p>0.05). The results of this study indicate that glaucoma, subconjunctival hemorrhage and proptosis are the most common pathologies in cats with head trauma and these pathologies should not be ignored during the intervention of the head trauma patients. In addition, it is thought that irreversible loss of vision can be prevented by frequently repeated IOP measurements, regardless of the mGCS score, in cases with head trauma.