CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS INDUCED IN RATS BY MATERNAL VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY: I. Defects of the Eye

ALTHOUGH congenital blindness of the offspring of poorly nourished animals has often been described, the early reports were specific neither in the analysis of the nutritional deficiency nor in the description of the ocular defects. Most of the observations were made on cattle, and Moore, Huffman and Duncan¹ have reviewed the literature pertaining to this field. Two types of congenital blindness can be distinguished: "the true vitamin A type," which is obviously a severe form of xerophthalmia,² and another type which is associated with constriction of the optic foramen.³ The latter, characterized by a dilated pupil and absence of inflammation of the external structures of the eye, is due to atrophy of the optic nerve caused by its passage through the optic foramen, apparently because of bony pressure.¹ It was difficult to attribute this congenital ocular defect to maternal vitamin A deficiency until Wolbach and Bessey