OCULAR FIBROPAPILLOMAS OF GREEN TURTLES (CHELONIA-MYDAS)

Histologic evaluation of four eyes from three stranded juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from Florida, USA revealed ocular fibropapill omas composed of an overlying hyperplastic epithelium, various amounts of a thickened, well vascularized, collagenous stroma, and a moderate -to-dense population of reactive fibroblasts. The histologic morpholog y of the ocular fibropapillomas varied depending on whether the eyelid , conjunctiva, limbus, or cornea was the primary site of tumor origin. Fibropapillomas arising from the limbus, conjunctiva, or eyelid tende d to be polyploid or pedunculated with a high degree of arborization. They often filled the conjunctival fornices and extended externally to be ulcerated on the distal aspects. Corneal fibropapillomas were more sessile and multinodular with less arborization. Some corneal tumors consisted primarily of a broad fibrovascular stroma and mild epithelia l hyperplasia, whereas others had a markedly hyperplastic epithelium s upported by stalks of fibrovascular stromal tissue. In green turtles o cular fibropapillomas may be locally invasive and associated with seve re blindness and systemic debilitation.