Back

EPIBULBAR DERMOID

This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only.

You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Note for Pet Owners:

  • The condition may not be confirmed as genetically inherited in your animal - but you should assume that it could be, and so you must prevent your animal from mating and passing on the defect to another generation.

Topics on this Page:

Description
An Epibulbar dermoid is a congenital condition which usually affects one eye but which can, on rare occasions, affect both eyes. It appears as a fleshy area on the eyeball which is usually hairy and pigmented. Most often they develop on the cornea next to the lateral limbus, but they can involve the conjunctiva (most often the palpebral conjunctiva) and they are sometimes associated with another defect - coloboma of the eyelid.

Epibulbar dermoid. Photo from "Canine Medicine and Therapeutics" (3rd Edition) reproduced with the permission of Blackwell Scientific Publications. To order this book go to the Provet Bookshop

Breed Occurrence
The German Shepherd Dog and St Bernard.

Signs
Epibulbar dermoids usually do not cause any serious problems but they look unsightly and can cause some local irritation.

Treatment
They are usually removed surgically.

 

Updated January 2016

 
d>