Diamond burr debridement of 34 canine corneas with presumed corneal calcareous degeneration.

Objectives: To describe the signalment, presence of systemic and/or ocular comorbidities, times to detected healing and probabilities of recurrence after diamond burr debridement (DBD) of eyes with presumed corneal calcareous degeneration and secondary ulceration and/or ocular pain.

Animals Studied: Twenty-six dogs with 42 eyes affected, 34 eyes treated with DBD.

Methods: A case series was conducted using medical records from a private veterinary ophthalmology referral practice. Dogs were included if they had white or gray corneal opacity consistent with corneal calcareous degeneration with either erosive or superficial ulceration and/or ocular pain in at least one eye and had at least one such eye treated with DBD. DBD was performed with a battery-operated handheld motorized burr (The Alger Company, Inc. Lago Vista, TX, USA), and a bandage contact lens was placed in the majority of eyes (30/34). Eyes were considered healed when the cornea was fluorescein negative, and there were no signs of ocular pain. Patient data (signalment, recurrence) were extracted from medical records.

Results: Dogs were first re-examined 7-62 days after treatment (median: 13 days). All DBD-treated eyes healed within 62 days (% healed: 100%; one-sided 97.5% CI: 90-100%, median: 14 days), 82% of eyes (28/34) were healed at first re-examination (median: 13 days after treatment), and all were healed by their second examination (median: 24 days). Of the 34 treated eyes, 11 were lost to follow up; 11 of the remaining 23 eyes recurred. Estimated 1-year recurrence probability was 58% (95% CI: 35-83%). Seven dogs had systemic disease; 7 had a history of prior ocular disease or intraocular surgery.

Conclusions: Diamond burr debridement is a safe and effective treatment for rapid resolution of superficial corneal ulceration and ocular pain secondary to presumed corneal calcareous degeneration in dogs.