Leonberger Club of America Health, Research, and Education Committee

Entropion

What is it?	Entropion is a rolling in (inversion) of the eyelids with the eyelashes irritating the smooth sensitive cornea of the eye. This causes mechanical injury to the corneal surface cells and a disruption of the thin layer of tears that serves to feed and protect the cornear.
Symptoms:	Entropion may be present along part of all of one or more eyelids. Some dogs are very mildly affected and may have no resulting problems or only slightly weepy eyes. Other dogs are more severely affected and keep squinting their eyes in discomfort.
Diagnosis:	An ophthalmologist will have to make the diagnosis.
Treatment:	Surgical correction of the defect is usually required. Frequently, dogs with very loose eyelids will have rolled in corners of their eyelids. In the Leonberger, as in other breeds, Entropion and Ectropion appear to have a genetic basis. The structure of the eyelids, the amount and weight of skin covering the head and face, and the conformation of the skull, are all involved in these diseases. Dogs that need surgical corrections for Entropion or Ectropion should not be bred.
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