04/14/08 Saving eyesight

If you have a good horse that has a damaged eye it might be worth considering a corneal transplant, I'm Jeff Keane and I will be back after the break with insight from a new research at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center. Eye problems can sideline a competition horse often permanently but a new study offers hope for blind horses, here is Susan Allen. Jeff, horses are pretty adaptable in fact a few years back my son borrowed a calf horse that was blind in his right eye. Yet the majority of eye injuries are devastating not only for horses but their owners. At the University of Florida they recently completed an in-depth study of two hundred and six horses and found that corneal transplant operations restored the vision of nearly eighty -eight percent of horses blinded by a variety of eye problems. The vets used donor corneas that were frozen until surgery and found the biggest hurdle to a successful transplants was similar to what occurs in humans; the horse's body often rejects the graft. Still the results of this study are more than encouraging, they give owners with blind horses hope and better yet not only was eyesight restored but "unsightly" damaged eyes cosmetically repaired to enhance the animals appearance. I imagine this procedure is quite costly but like we have seen with other equine ailments many owners will spare no expense when it comes to saving their horses. Once again this is all a result of the good work produced by our nations veterinary colleges. I'm Jeff Keane.