Luxation de la glande de Harder chez un lapin bélier

A five year-old lop male rabbit was presented for a six month persistent protruding mass in the medial canthus of the left eye. The ophthalmic examination indicated a possible prolapse of the Harderian gland. A surgical repositioning using the Morgan pocket technique described in dogs for prolapse of the nictitating membrane gland, associated with a biopsy of the protruding mass was performed. The histological examination confirmed the lacrimal origin of the prolapsed tissue, excluded a neoplastic infiltration, and revealed a hypertrophy of the lacrimal glandular tissue. Only few reports of prolapse of the Harderian gland in the rabbit are described in the literature. Young animals are mainly affected. Interestingly, the age of the rabbit was quite atypical in our case report. Furthermore, this case shows that repositioning the Harderian gland in rabbits using the Morgan pocket technique can easily be performed. As the importance of the Harderian gland is yet not fully evaluated in the rabbit tear production, it is not recommended to remove the prolapsed portion of the Harderian gland; moreover, resection of the Harderian gland could be life threatening if the venous sinus localized at the bottom of the nictitating membrane is punctured during the procedure.