Five cases of histiocytic disorder in golden retriever dogs

Purpose: To report the clinical and histopathological aspect of ocular histiocytic lesions in five Golden Retriever dogs. Methods: Three cases of conjunctival proliferative lesions and two cases of conjunctival proliferative lesions associ- ated with the presence of cutaneous nodules, in five Golden Retriever dogs aged between 11 months and 3 years are reported. A complete ophthalmological examination was performed on all subjects showing conjunctival chemo- sis associated with the presence of nodular lesions in the bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva of the third eyelid; in two subjects the presence of nodules in the skin was also ob- served. Surgical biopsy of lesions, both ocular and cutane- ous, was taken in all dogs and specimens were submitted for histology. Results: In four subjects histological findings were consist- ent with systemic histiocytosis while in one dog histology was suggestive of histiocytic proliferative lesion. One case presented, histologically, with marked angiotropic and an- gioinvasive organization of infiltrating histiocytes. This pa- tient died 6 months after the first presentation. Conclusions: Histiocytic proliferative disorder should be considered as differential diagnosis in Golden Retriever dogs that present with nodular conjunctival lesions.