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Uveitis

anterior uveitis | perikeratic redness

Uveitis is an inflammation of the uvea, which is a tissue inside the eye. It can be anterior uveitis (iritis), intermediate uveitis (vitritis) or posterior uveitis.

Patients present with symptoms of mild, dull pain, unilateral (usually) redness, around the iris and major light sensitivity. 

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  • Idiopathic uveitis happens for no known reason. Some patients experience it as recurrent uveitis or iritis. Treatment is symptomatic, which is to alleviate symptoms and prevent complications such as adhesion of the iris to surrounding structures. Typical treatment includes topical steroids as well as a cycloplegic eyedrops to dilate the pupil which helps with the pain and prevents synechiaes. 

  • Many auto-immune diseases can result in uveitis. They are typically much harder to treat. Treatment will be a team work with other specialists. Auto Immune related uveitis causes include :​

acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy

ankylosing spondylitis

Behcet's disease

birdshot retinochoroidopathy

herpes simplex

herpes zoster

inflammatory bowel disease

juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Kawasaki's disease

leptospirosis

Lyme disease

multiple sclerosis

presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome

psoriatic arthritis

Reiter's syndrome

sarcoidosis

syphilis

systemic lupus erythematosus

toxocariasis

toxoplasmosis

tuberculosis

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome​

  • Posterior Uveitis affects the back of the eye. They tend to be auto immune or infectious in nature. Causes of posterior uveitis can include: toxoplasmosis, sarcoidosis, AIDS complications, herpes viruses. Those entities will be treated by a uveitis specialist and other appropriate physicians.

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