ECVO exam
MCQ sample questions
Which one of the following bones contributes to
the orbit in the horse but not in cattle?
a) Zygomatic.
b) Maxillary.
c) Sphenoid.
d) Temporal.
Failure of normal development of what ocular embryonic
structure on day 30 of gestation has been associated with
the development of posterior segment colobomas in
homozygous merle Australian Shepherd dogs?
a) Inner neuroblastic layer.
b) Retinal pigment epithelium.
c) Periocular mesenchyme.
d) Outer neuroblastic layer.
A special feature of the frog eye is:
a) Absence of a retractor bulbi muscle.
b) Presence of a conus papillaris.
c) Absence of an orbital septum.
d) Presence of scleral ossicles.
Streak retinoscopy (skiascopy) is performed in a dog at a
working distance of 66 cm. Neutralization is seen in the
horizontal meridian at +2 Diopters and in the vertical
meridian at +0.5 Diopters. This eye should be classified
as:
a) Astigmatic.
b) Myopic.
c) Hyperopic.
d) Anisetropic.
Corneal lipidosis is readily diagnosed
histologically with:
a) Oil-red-O stains of frozen sections.
b) Sudan black stains of paraffin sections.
c) Mucicarmine stains of paraffin sections.
d) Sections prepared from Zencker's fixed tissues.
You examine a dog with anisocoria. The left pupil is normal
but the right is moderately dilated in ambient light. Light
into either eye constricts the left but not the right pupil. In
darkness the left pupil becomes maximally dilated and the
right remains moderately dilated. The most likely location
for the lesion is:
a) Right optic nerve.
b) Right optic tract.
c) Right oculomotor nucleus.
d) Right ciliary ganglion.
Which one of the following statements is true concerning
suture materials for ophthalmic surgery?
a) Prolene (polypropylene) is not hydrolyzed like nylon
(polyamide) is, but is more slippery and more prone to knot
instability.
b) Nylon (polyamide) loses an estimated 30% of its tensile
strength due to hydrolyzation in the first year after application.
c) The amount of tissue reaction is greater for surgical gut than
for polyglactic acid, but the two have similar duration of tensile
strength over time.
d) Both nylon and polypropylene (prolene) are prone to break
during continuous suturing, due to their low elasticity.
Which one of the following statements is true concerning
equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) and Leptospira interrogans
infection?
a) Among horses with uveitis, there is no difference in the risk of
loss of vision between Leptospira seropositive horses and
Leptospira seronegative horses.
b) When related to Leptospira infection, ERU is a late sequel to the
infection, with ocular signs developing 12-24 months after
inoculation.
c) In seropositive horses, anti-Leptospira antibodies may be
demonstrated in serum and tears, but not in aqueous.
d) In inflammatory nodules in the iris and ciliary body of affected
horses, B lymphocytes predominate.
Which one of the following statements is correct
concerning the optic nerve and its ganglion cells in dogs ?
a) Alpha retinal ganglion cells have large cell bodies, large
dendritic fields and large-diameter axons.
b) The optic nerve is divided into these regions: intraocular,
intraorbital and intracranial.
c) Alpha retinal ganglion cells are more densely distributed in the
central retina and beta cells in the peripheral retina.
d) There are no centrifugal axons from the central nervous
system to the retina.
Disease of the petrous temporal bone proper
(petrositis) or within (e.g. otitis media or interna) may
involve more than one nerve that courses through it.
Which nerves may be directly involved?
a) Motoneurons of facial (VII) nerve, postganglionic sympathetic fibers,
preganglionic parasympathetic fibers, glossopharyngeal (IX) nerve, chorda
tympani (from VII).
b) Only motoneurons of facial (VII) nerve, postganglionic sympathetic
fibers, preganglionic parasympathetic fibers may be involved, but never
glossopharyngeal (IX) nerve or chorda tympani (from VII).
c) Motoneurons of facial (VII) nerve, preganglionic sympathetic fibers,
postganglionic parasympathetic fibers, glossopharyngeal (IX) nerve, chorda
tympani (from VII).
d) Only motoneurons of facial (VII) nerve, preganglionic parasympathetic
fibers, glossopharyngeal (IX) nerve or chorda tympani (from VII).
Which one of the following statements is true with regard
to viscoelastic materials in veterinary ophthalmology?
a) Cohesive viscoelastics are believed to be more likely to result in
postsurgical hypertension than dispersive viscoelastics.
b) Cohesive viscoelastics have a low viscosity/molecular weight,
while dispersive viscoelastics have a high viscosity/molecular
weight.
c) Cohesive viscoelastics offer better protection for the corneal
endothelium during intraocular surgery than dispersive
viscoelastics.
d) The term “pseudoplasticity” is used to define the phenomenon
that viscosity (of a viscoelastic) increases with higher shear rate
(=faster movement, e.g., through a cannula).
When performing specular microscopy, the angle of the
incident light, relative to the observation system is:
a) 0 degrees (i.e. the path of the incident light is the same as the
observations system).
b) 20 degrees.
c) 45 degrees.
d) 90 degrees.
What is a common cause of panuveitis in
poultry?
a) Enterococcosis.
b) Mycoplasmosis.
c) Chlamydiosis.
d) Salmonellosis.
Accola et al evaluated three retrobulbar injection
techniques in dogs (JAVMA 2006). Which one of the
following statements is correct according to this
paper?
a) Intraconal injections of anaesthetic agents resulted in the
most rapid and consistent effects but required a higher volume.
b) The combined superior-inferior peribulbar approaches
provided the best akinesia and additional ocular analgesia.
c) The inferior-temporal palpebral technique seemed to be the
best alternative to systemic neuromuscular blocking.
d) The perimandibular technique required a low volume of
anaesthetic and was the safer way of injection.
In a review by Kubai et al. (“Refractive states of
eyes and association between ametropia and
breed in dogs”, AJVR 2008), which of the
following statements was correct ?
a) Mean refractive state of all eyes examined was - 0.5 D
(emmetropia).
b) Mean refractive state of all eyes examined was + 0.05 D
(emmetropia).
c) Astigmatism was detected in 10% of adult dogs.
d) Astigmatism was detected in 1% of adult dogs.
According to May et al (‘Choroidal microcirculation
in Abyssinian cats with hereditary rod-cone
degeneration’, Exp Eye Res 2008), which of the
following statements is correct?
a) RPE and choriocapillaris show atrophy evenly distributed
across the tapetal and non-tapetal fundus.
b) Unlike in other species, RPE and choriocapillaris remain
unaffected throughout the fundus.
c) RPE and choriocapillaris remain unaffected in areas covered by
tapetum lucidum.
d) Areas covered by tapetum lucidum are specifically affected by
loss of RPE and choriocapillaris
Hofmeister et al (VAA 2008) investigated the
effects of propofol and thiopental on peri-
induction IOP in normal dogs. Which of the
following statements is correct?
a) Both propofol and thiopentone cause insignificant increases in
IOP.
b. Propofol caused a significant increase in IOP.
c) Thiopental caused a significant increase in IOP.
d) Propofol caused an insignificant increase in IOP.
Schlueter et al used CT to study head conformation
and the nasolacrimal drainage system (NDS) in
mesencephalic and brachycephalic cats (JFMS 2009).
From their study, which of the following statements is
NOT true? In severely brachycephalic cats:
a) The root of the upper canine tooth adjoined the nasolacrimal
sac.
b) The nasal ostium was higher than the level of the lower
lacrimal punctum.
c) The NDS reduced to around 5mm in length.
d) The upper lacrimal canaliculus was not detectable.
Hendrix et al. (Veterinary Ophthalmology 2008)
studied the pharmacokinetics in tears of topically
applied ciprofloxacin in dogs. Which of the
following statements is true?
a) A concentration above the MIC90 remains for a maximum of
4 hours.
b) A concentration above the MIC90 remains for at least 6
hours.
c) The concentration remained longer abover the MIC90 in
brachycephalic dogs.
d) The mean tear production in brachycephalic dogs was lower
than in mesocephalic dogs.
According to Naranjo et al (Veterinary
Ophthalmology 2008) canine ocular gliomas:
a) Never extend to the anterior uvea.
b) Are more common in Golden Retrievers.
c) Can lead to exophthalmia.
d) Can be removed with tumour free surgical margins via
enucleation.
Correct answers:
1d 11a
2b 12c
3c 13d
4a 14c
5a 15d
6d 16c
7a 17b
8b 18c
9a 19b
10a 20c
