Tinkerbelle, love at first sight.

There are different organ systems in a biological organism.  Medicine breaks them down into specialty areas.   Internal medicine, oncology, dentistry, ophthalmology, neurology, and nephrology to name a few that are linked to an organ area.   Each system is available for board certification with advanced training and specialized medical equipment tools if you will.  (These are pronounced toys if you are a player.) All of the disciplines have their own lingo, acronyms, procedures and protocols.  What they have in common are the fundamental definitions classifying developmental, congenital, inheritable or genetic linked results found in the offspring. 

There are some disorders that fit a pattern and we are able to pigeonhole results as expected and can assign a statistical probability of a repeatable trait.  This is a variation of being a medical detective using clues to backtrack the guilty.  For some reason people need to blame one side or the other.  You may have heard discussions at family gatherings.  The comments being referred to are" Well, he never got  that from my side of the family" or  "That hair must have come from our second cousins twice removed from reality".   Animals and people are such a soup mixture of genes that it is difficult to figure where things come from based on a single episode.  Multiple, repeatable characteristics good or bad can fill in the probability scorecard.

Do not worry this article is not going to dwell on results or predictions of future populations of animals or weirdness in plants.  The genotype of an individual is encoded in the DNA combined from ancestors on both sides.  This is the genetic code or genome of a species.  The phenotype is the outward expression of the sum effect of expresser (modifier) genes.  I loosely define phenotype as what you can photograph or could see in a photo.  So if you are a blue eye blond and (to be politically correct) marry a blue eye blond you would expect most children to at least be blue eyed.  This is a repeatable genotype with a predictable phenotype. 

Developmental disorders happen because normal checks and balances, feed back mechanisms or sequential steps may get missed.  This may be during embryological formation (gamete through fetus), due to environmental, ingestion of a substance during a critical development time line or just because.  Thalidomide is an example of a legally prescribed sedative / drug that caused malformations and missing limbs when pregnant women took it. 

A congenital issue describes an unusual condition present at birth.  It does not differentiate if the cause is genetic, inherited, or due to a variant of interrupted development. 

I have always been awestruck wondering about the miracle of birth.   The sequencing of events that all have to be completed is actually longer odds than Vegas wishes to give.  When you factor in all the potential miscues it is incredible there are "normal births" daily.   It is in my opinion one of God's wonders that a fetus is able to come out and get that first breath.  If that does not excite you about God being in control of His Universe, I do not know what to use as a second choice example.
The first part of this article gives the ground work so you will understand the following.  Our new puppy Tinkerbelle was showing a left eye anterior chamber bleed (hyphema).  Retinal structures were not visible.  There were discernable marks on the posterior capsule of the lens.  I was suspicious she was avisual in the eye.  Tossing cotton balls from behind was inconclusive if she could see from her left eye.  I scheduled an exam at Michigan State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital with Wendy Townsend, DVM specialist, and board certified ophthalmologist she used a fundus camera and ultrasound to evaluate the eye.  The toys referred to earlier.  The team of residents and students had never seen the lesions in an Irish Wolfhound, like Tinkerbelle was showing.  "Tinkerbelle has a congenital abnormality consisting of persistent hyperplasic vitreous, vitreal traction bands and retinal detachment.  She is permanently blind in her left eye and is at significant risk of developing glaucoma and cataracts in her left eye." Dr Townsend said this is a 1 in a million developmental situation. 
 
In summary the artery supplying the lens in the left eye during development was supposed to go away or reabsorb away from the lens during development.  This did not happen.  This allowed vitreous fibrous bands, a variation of adhesions, to develop.  The bands twisted or "Maypoled" around the artery.  As the bands tightened it put traction pressure on the retinal structures which "detached the retina".  She may have further bleeding incidents, develop glaucoma or a cataract.  All of which we will deal with if it happens. 

The resource capability, thoroughness of exam and exemplary patient care at MSU is greatly appreciated both as a veterinarian and as a client.  

We are looking for a "Pirate Patch" to wear with her "Doggles".  She has been great with the grandchildren and is a joy to be around.  Sarrah from her kennel offered a replacement pup.  I have already fallen in love with this cute one.  Tinkerbelle has a home for life.

It is a classic example of love at first sight.  The eyes have it.
 
For more information about a specific case, consult your veterinarian.