Congenital ocular abnormalities in calves associated with maternal hypovitaminosis A

Congenital Abnormalities in Production Animals

“…In one report, microphthalmos, microcornea, aphakia, absence of iridal structures with retinal dysplasia, and a degree of optic nerve hypoplasia were noted in 25% of calves born to a group of suckler cows, which themselves showed signs of vitamin deficiency, such as blindness and papilledema. 30 A more recent article from France reported that cows with similar signs and a similar history of maternal malnutrition produced calves with microphthalmia, aphakic globes with retinal dysplasia, and optic nerve hypoplasia. 31 An important infectious cause of ocular deformities in cattle is the pestivirus bovine viral diarrhea.…”

Bilateral Microphthalmia and Aphakia Associated with Multiple Eye Abnormalities in a Free-Living European Red Deer Calf (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>)

“…Particularly, the exclusion of environmental causes and the low inbreeding coefficient similarly hypothesized for a wild animal draw to consider hereditary etiology as the most probable [13]. In our case, a deficiency or excess of vitamin A was considered unlikely in a free-living population, since primary vitamin A deficiency usually occurs in housed animals fed a ration containing little or no green forage [10]. Environmental toxic causes for these malformations of the eyes could not be excluded, because no further affected animals belonging to the same population was found, according to the monitoring performed by game wardens.…”

Optic pathway degeneration in Japanese black cattle

“…In various animal species and humans, inflammation of the optic pathway (optic neuritis); glaucoma, in which retinal ganglion cells are affected by increased intraocular pressure; optic nerve trauma; and compression of the optic nerve have been listed as major causes of optic pathway degeneration [1, 11, 12, 17, 22,23,24, 28, 37]. Among the JB cattle examined in the present study, none of the animals exhibited histopathological changes that were suggestive of glaucoma, such as cupping of the optic disk.…”

“…Degeneration of the optic pathway, such as the retina, optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral geniculate body, optic radiation and cortex of the occipital lobe, has been reported in various animal species and humans [3, 7, 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19, 22,23,24,25, 27, 29,30,31,32]. Vitamin A deficiency [14, 23, 24, 37], vitamin B12 deficiency [3, 15, 16, 18, 29, 30], injury to the retina and/or optic nerve [13, 27], trauma [22], optic neuritis [24, 37] and compression of the optic nerve by intraorbital or intracranial neoplasia [24, 37] are all potential causes of optic pathway degeneration.…”

“…Vitamin A deficiency [14, 23, 24, 37], vitamin B12 deficiency [3, 15, 16, 18, 29, 30], injury to the retina and/or optic nerve [13, 27], trauma [22], optic neuritis [24, 37] and compression of the optic nerve by intraorbital or intracranial neoplasia [24, 37] are all potential causes of optic pathway degeneration.…”