Assessment of intraocular measurements in neonatal foals and association with gender, laterality, and body weight: a clinical study.
Authors: Valentini Simona, Castagnetti Carolina, Musella Vincenzo, Spinella Giuseppe
Journal: PloS one
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Intraocular Measurements in Neonatal Foals B-scan ultrasonography of 44 eyes from 22 healthy foals aged 1–7 days established baseline reference values for six key intraocular parameters: anterior chamber depth (2.2±0.5 mm), central lens thickness (9.9±0.8 mm), vitreous chamber depth (15.5±1.1 mm), axial globe length (27.6±1.6 mm), longitudinal globe length (35.8±1.2 mm), and lens-to-lens distance (16.4±1.0 mm). Notably, none of these measurements varied significantly with foal gender, eye laterality, or body weight category, suggesting that a single set of reference values applies across neonatal populations regardless of these variables. These baseline measurements will prove invaluable when evaluating neonates suspected of congenital ocular defects or acquired pathology, enabling earlier detection of abnormalities such as developmental cataracts, globe hypoplasia, or post-infectious changes. For equine practitioners managing foals with suspected ophthalmological compromise, this dataset provides the first evidence-based reference standard for determining whether ocular dimensions fall within normal limits during the critical first week of life.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Veterinarians now have normative ultrasound reference values for neonatal foal eye measurements (ages 1-7 days) to facilitate early detection of congenital or acquired globe abnormalities
- •B-scan ultrasonography can reliably assess internal ocular structures in newborn foals without need for sedation, enabling non-invasive monitoring of eye development
- •Gender and body weight do not need to be accounted for when comparing individual foal measurements to these neonatal reference values
Key Findings
- •Mean anterior chamber depth in neonatal foals (1-7 days) was 2.2±0.5 mm, central lens thickness 9.9±0.8 mm, and axial globe length 27.6±1.6 mm
- •Intraocular measurements showed no significant variation by gender, eye laterality, or body weight in neonatal foals
- •Reference biometric values established for six intraocular measurements in healthy neonatal foals using B-scan ultrasonography