Pressão intraocular e biometria ultrassonográfica em olhos saudáveis de jacarés-do-pantanal (Caiman yacare DAUDIN, 1802)

Abstract

To determine the intraocular pressure (IOP), the ultrasonographic and echobiometric findings in the eyes of Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare), twenty two healthy caimans from a breeding farm in Brazilian Pantanal were selected. IOP was measured under physical restraint and topical anesthesia by applanation tonometry. Five individual measurements of each eye were recorded by the same examiner. B-mode ultrasonography was performed with a 10MHz linear transducer and the corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, vitreous depth, and axial globe length were measured. Mean ± standard deviation IOP of the 44 eyes studied was 9.56 ± 2.69 mmHg (range 5.4 – 15.6 mmHg). IOP did not differ significantly between right- and left-eyes or between genders (P>0.05). Echobiometric measurements did not differ significantly between eyes and genders (P>0.05). Intraocular structures measured in male and female subjects were, respectively, 0.49 ± 0.07 and 0.49 ± 0.07 mm for central corneal thickness; 2.61 ± 0.13 and 2.55 ± 0.18 mm for anterior chamber depth; 7.60 ± 0.17 and 7.54 ± 0.20 mm for lens thickness; 6.83 ± 0.20 and 6.90 ± 0.22 mm for vitreous chamber depth; and 17.55 ± 0.25 and 17.54 ± 0.29 mm for axial globe length. IOP did not correlate with dimensions of the eye and its intraocular structures (P>0.05). The knowledge of the normal IOP, ultrasonographic appearance and distances of intraocular structures of Yacare caiman facilitates the evaluation of ocular diseases in this species.