Introduction

The PRA is a genetic disorder. It is causes the degeneration and death of the cone and rod cells of the retina. These cells develop normally in early life, but after a time firstly the rod then the cone cells begin to damage and die. The examination with ophthalmoscope and fundus camera do not make it possible to detect fine changes thus do not support the detection of progressive retina atrophy (PRA) the early signs of which appear in the retina.

Objectives

Our goal is to introduce the importance of the OCT in the early diagnosis of PRA.

Methods

The principle of operation of the optical coherence tomography (OCT) is very similar to the ultrasound with one major difference, that in case of the OCT the physical wave originates from a special light source. In our study we used Fourier domain OCT.

Results

In our study we examined 52 dogs between the age of 7 months to 12 years old. We took OCT pictures at different stages of PRA. We observed the retinal thinning, while the structure got disrupted. In some cases we observed retinal detachment and liquid between the layers.

Conclusions

With optical coherence tomography we are able to detect fine lesions. This make possible to begin the therapy earlier and slows down the degeneration of the cells.