Facoemulsificação em caninana (Spilotes pullatus): relato de caso

Abstract

Cataract is a non-physiological opacity of the crystalline that has a variety of causes, such as hereditary defects, metabolic influences, infections, trauma and senility. It may still develop associated or secondary to other eye abnormalities. However, changes in the shape of lenticular cells are similar in different cataract types. The most useful method of classification is by stage of development, which may be incipient, immature, mature or hypermature. After the cornea, the lens is the most important refractive surface of the eye and is responsible for adjusting the eyes for viewing at various distances. Its opacity results in visual failure or total blindness, which is demonstrated in behavioral changes of the animal. The only form of treatment is surgical through lens extraction, or facectomy. Phacoemulsification consists of ultrasonic fragmentation and lens aspiration; this is the technique of choice for cataract removal, as it has advantages over other techniques. Cataract is a common disease among domestic animals and reptiles, the same method of treatment may be applied to these species, but there are still few data reported. Therefore, this study aimed to report a case of cataract on a yellow rat snake (Spilotes pullatus) submitted to a phacoemulsification procedure to contribute to the limited literature on the subject. A serpent (Spilotes pullatus), popularly known as yellow rat snake, male, adult, 1.79m, 1.3kg, was sent to Dois Irmãos State Park after being found in an anthropic area. On clinical examination she was diagnosed with bilateral mature cataract and was submitted to lens extraction by phacoemulsification technique. The results were unsatisfactory, requiring additional tests to diagnose if there was any primary disease that affected vision.