Computed Tomography-Based Evaluation of Skull Measurements and Eye
Biometrics in Brachycephalic vs. Non-Brachycephalic Cats
Ermiş Özkan1, Gülsün Pazvant1, Didar Aydin
Kaya2*, Simge Uğur2, Zeynep Nilüfer Akçasiz2,
Ebru Eravci Yalin2, Murat Karabağli3 and Tuğba
Kurt4
1Department
of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa,
34320, Istanbul, Türkiye; 2Department of Surgery, Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, 34320,
Istanbul, Türkiye; 3Department of Radiology, Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, 34320,
Istanbul, Türkiye;
4Ada
Veterinary Polyclinic, 34330, Istanbul, Türkiye.
*Corresponding author:
didar@iuc.edu.tr
Abstract
Brachycephaly in cats, characterized by shortened
facial and skull length and a rounder head due to inherited defects in skull
bone development, can lead to respiratory and ocular problems, particularly in
popular breeds like Exotic Shorthair, British Shorthair, Persian and Scottish
Fold. Eye diseases in cats and dogs can result from various factors, including
infectious agents, metabolic disorders, physical trauma and breed-specific
congenital abnormalities, with brachycephalic cats being particularly prone to
chronic corneal diseases and glaucoma due to their anatomical features. Despite challenges such as cost, the need for
anesthesia and radiation exposure, understanding normal eye measurements and
biometrics through imaging techniques like ultrasound, MRI and CT is essential
for diagnosing eye diseases in veterinary ophthalmology.
This study aimed to utilize computed
Tomography (CT) images to measure intraocular structures in healthy cats with
varying skull structures and establish the correlation between these
measurements and skull morphometric data. In the study, a total of 24
cats from brachycephalic and 27 cats from non-brachycephalic breeds (both sexes)
were included. Two- dimensional CT scans of cats were reconstructed into 3D
models using the 3D Slicer 5.4.0 program, which was also used for intraocular
and skull measurements. Results
demonstrated that the anterio-posterior distance of the lens and postorbital
breadth measurements were higher, while greatest length of the skull was lower,
in brachycephalic than in
non-brachycephalic cats (p<0.05). According to the
results of Discriminant Function analysis, when considering head types, it was
observed that 92.6% of animals with non-brachycephalic head and 79.2% of animals
with brachycephalic head types were accurately classified. These findings
emphasize the importance of considering anatomical variations in brachycephalic
and non-brachycephalic cats for accurate diagnosis of eye health issues in these
cats.
To Cite This Article:
Özkan E, Pazvant G,
Kaya DA, Uğur S, Akçasiz ZN, Yalin EE, Karabağli M and Kurt T, 2024. Computed
tomography-based evaluation of skull measurements and eye biometrics in
brachycephalic vs. non-brachycephalic cats. Pak Vet J, 44(3): 910-916.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2024.236