If a cataract develops, it can be surgically corrected, and this procedure should be pursued early in the course of the disease for best results. Dogs diagnosed with lenticular sclerosis should be evaluated regularly to monitor for the development of cataracts. Poorer white pupils are falling behind 'every step of the way', he warned, and with almost a million young people being affected, it could not be 'swept under the carpet'. There is no specific treatment for lenticular sclerosis, nor is treatment necessary. (Image via Wikimedia Commons / Joel Mills (CC BY-SA 3.0.) It is important to note that senile cataracts develop in many older pets, so the chances that your dog will develop lenticular sclerosis and/or a cataract is high. Leukocoria occurs when a pupil shines white rather than red when light reflects off of it. Senile cataracts form when the aging lens fibers degenerate. This means that not all pets with lenticular sclerosis will develop cataracts. While the two seem related, there does not appear to be a causal relationship. It is more common in children but can occur in adults as well. Many dogs do develop age-related cataracts after having lenticular sclerosis. Leukocoria means 'white pupil.' It describes a condition where the pupil of the eye is white rather than black. It is believed that, as the central lens is compressed by new fibers deposited on the outer rings of the lens, the compression leads to hardening and lens becomes opaque. Lens fibers are produced throughout life, but the lens does not become bigger. While the exact mechanism is poorly understood, it appears that the lens gradually becomes harder with age. When the eye is examined with an ophthalmoscope, the retina and fundus (back of the eye) can still be seen through the sclerotic lens. The opacity is often more dramatic when viewed from the side rather than from the front. Lenticular sclerosis appears as an evenly gray, rounded opacity (cloudiness) in the center of the lens, and is most easily observed when the pupil is dilated. Lenticular sclerosis typically occurs bilaterally (in both eyes) and symmetrically in dogs. "Lenticular sclerosis appears as an evenly gray, rounded opacity (cloudiness) in the center of the lens, and is most easily observed when the pupil is dilated."
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