Is it canine DUSN?: Another view of retinopathies, some acquired, and others possibly "inherited": Another view of retinopathies, some acquired, and others possibly "inherited"

Abstract

The term retinopathy has been used to group several heterogeneous retinal abnormalities that are clearly acquired or are suspected/proposed to be inherited. Some share characteristic focal/multifocal hyperreflective tapetal lesions with a dark center, and areas of non-tapetal depigmentation suggestive of patchy or diffuse outer retinal atrophy. Progression is variable, and some develop unilateral or bilateral fundus changes resembling the clearly inherited form of retinal degeneration referred to as PRA. In this Commentary and Review, we discuss the role of ocular larva migrans resulting in the entity we refer to as canine DUSN and suggest that it may be responsible for some of the retinal findings grouped under the retinopathy rubric that share this characteristic fundus lesion.

Keywords: Baylisascaris procyonis; Toxocara canis; DUSN; canine DUSN; helminths; ocular larva migrans; retinopathy.