Aynur DEMİR, Gülşen SEVİM KARAGÖZOĞLU, Yusuf ALTUNDAĞ

Surgical management of infectious and noninfectious melting corneal ulcers in cats

A melting ulcer, characterized by the stromal dissolution of the cornea, is an important eye lesion that develops due to various reasons and threatens vision. Restoration of this lesion, which causes loss of corneal transparency, requires aggressive medical and surgical treatment. In medical treatment, stromal degeneration is controlled with agents that support topical antibacterial and stromal healing. Surgical treatment is applied using various techniques to remove structures damaged due to the progression of corneal melting and to promote corneal healing. In this study, lamellar keratectomy and the third eyelid flap techniques were combined with topical medical therapy in 20 cat cases with melting ulcers. The aim of this study was to alert to general practitioners that this condition is an important cause of progressive eye loss and necessitates urgent intervention and to show that this treatment approach is easy to implement and has successful results.

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