Ocular Manifestations of Pediatric Systemic Diseases

Abstract

Ocular manifestations that occur directly or indirectly as result of a pathologic process that involves other parts of the body, in a pediatric population, will be discussed here. While a myriad number of systemic conditions have ocular manifestations, its importance cannot be undermined because it has implications for both diagnosis and treatment. Often, the eye findings can give a clue to the systemic diagnosis and at other times, not managing the eye manifestations can lead to irreversible blindness although the systemic condition was treated well. So, it is important for all clinicians dealing with pediatric population to be aware of ocular manifestations of the common systemic conditions. The authors discuss the ocular manifestations of the following systemic conditions: Genetic and chromosomal anomalies, phakomatoses, metabolic disorders, infectious diseases, craniofacial anomalies, muscular disorders, inflammatory disorders and miscellaneous.

Risk of Neurotoxicity with Multiple General Anaesthetics for Examination Under Anaesthesia in Paediatric Ophthalmology – A Cause for Concern?

“…10 In congenital glaucoma or Coats' disease, EUA (±treatment) is often required on a two to three monthly basis until the disease is controlled, with continued surveillance potentially required throughout childhood. [11][12][13] In the context of intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), or concurrent illness, necessary elements of assessment like cycloplegic refraction, fundal examination or electrophysiology can be very difficult in the awake patient, necessitating sedation or GA. 7,[14][15][16] Ophthalmic manifestations may be an identifying feature of paediatric multisystem disease [17][18][19] with these children often requiring repeated comprehensive assessments.…”

Editorial: Pediatric Ophthalmology – Part II

“…The implications of such an examination is often enormous, for example, detection of choroidal tubercles in a child being managed as neurocysticercosis or the detection of typical choroidal lesions of Pneumocystis carinii in a child with etiologically undiagnosed pneumonia. Pillai and his colleagues provide a detailed overview of the various ocular manifestations that could be seen in children with various developmental and acquired disorders [3]. The impact of this review is enhanced by the inclusion of a large collection of images.…”