Traumatic Phthisis Bulbi in a Mouse

Abstract

In total 30 male and 30 female (Crlj: CD1 (ICR)) mice were purchased and maintained to gather background data for pre-clinical general toxicity testing. One of the females was accidentally injured in the right eye during the experiment, and a sequence of ocular complications was observed in the right eye, including orbital hemorrhage, proptosis, and corneal leukoma on the day of injury (Day 1), atrophy of the eye from Day 3, and hemorrhage in the anterior chamber and opacity of the lens from Day 6. The atrophy of the eye and opacity of the lens persisted until the day of autopsy 28 days after injury. On histopathological examination of the eye, degeneration of all the intraocular tissues was observed. Phthisis bulbus was therefore diagnosed, and appeared to have developed within 5 days after the injury. There have been many clinical reports of phthisis bulbi caused by injuries. Our findings demonstrate that the same condition can occur in laboratory mice.