Dog detached retina9/9/2023 However, dogs with SARDS who have received immunosuppressive therapy (the treatment of choice for autoimmune diseases) have not demonstrated any clear improvement in overall outcome compared to untreated dogs. It’s been theorized that SARDS is an autoimmune disease in which a misbehaving immune system attacks the body’s own normal cells. The ERG is a test used to evaluate photoreceptor function and is performed by veterinarians who are specialists in ophthalmology. Therefore, the diagnosis of SARDS is made based on the patient’s history, the presence of partial to complete blindness in both eyes, normal appearing retinas, and characteristic changes on an electroretinogram (ERG). These changes are microscopic in nature-one cannot detect them by performing a basic eye exam. In dogs with SARDS, the photoreceptors (rods and cones) and possibly the nerve fiber layers within the retinas undergo degenerative changes. SARDS affects the thin-layered retinas which receive visual input and then transport this information to the brain via the optic nerve. Any breed is susceptible, but Dachshunds, Miniature Schnauzers, Pugs, Brittany Spaniels, Malteses, Bichon Frises, and mixed-breed dogs are particularly predisposed. SARDS is a middle age disease in dogs, and approximately 60% of affected dogs are females. (Note to reader: the less that is known about a disease, the longer the name of that disease.) In addition to being untreatable, the cause of SARDS is unknown. Such is the case with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (aka, SARDS). Those that make this list tend to be diseases that are untreatable, leaving me helpless to fix my patient. Over the years I’ve developed a top ten list of my most despised diseases.
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