Oval lipid corneal opacities in beagles

Naturally occurring, oval opacities at the junction of the middle and inferior thirds of the cornea were found in an experimental beagle dog colony and were examined by light and electron microscopy. Abnormalities were limited to the anterior stroma and consisted of extracellular rhomboid crystalline spaces. Spherical or elliptical vacuolar spaces, sometimes containing electron-dense amorphous debris, distorted stromal lamellae. Stromal keratocytes in affected areas revealed a range of changes from hyperplasia of organelles to degeneration and necrosis.