Anterior Capsular Opacities (Spurious Cataracts) in Beagle Dogs

Abstract

Small, punctate, anterior capsular opacities were detected in 24 of 1314 Beagle dogs. In the area adjacent to the punctate lesion, the lens often had a ground-glass appearance. The opacities were always centrally located and produced no obvious clinical loss of vision. They were composed primarily of fibrous tissue and nuclei, and sometimes there was also brown pigment. The lesions were intimately associated with the zonular lamella of the anterior lens capsule but did not appear to affect the cuticular part of the capsule nor to be a proliferation of the capsular epithelium. The opacities were considered to represent remnants of the embryonic, fibrovascular pupillary membrane. © 1974, American College of Veterinary Pathologists. All rights reserved.