Ocular Neural Heterotopia in a Moroccan Uromastyx (Uromastyx acanthinurus nigriventris)

Abstract

A juvenile female Moroccan uromastyx (Uromastyx acanthinurus nigriventris) that died unexpectedly was necropsied. Necropsy examination revealed minimal intracoelomic fat, small numbers of intestinal nematodes and intraocular masses within the vitreous chamber of both eyes. One of the intraocular masses was focally contiguous with the optic nerve and composed of neuroparenchyma with rare glial cells, consistent with a diagnosis of neural heterotopia. This condition is considered a neuroectodermal malformation, readily recognized in human medicine but rarely reported in animals. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of intraocular neural heterotopia reported in a reptile.

Keywords: congenital malformation; eye; neural heterotopia; reptile.