The eye in systemic vasculitis

Abstract

-The term 'vasculitis' includes a wide range of disorders characterised by inflammation of the wall of blood vessels, sometimes with necrosis, leading to ischaemia of the affected organ. The exact pathogenesis of most of these vasculitides is not fully understood and although the presence of circulating auto-antibodies seems to be a common feature among them, each vasculitis has its unique pathogenesis and a predilection for vessels of a defined size. Systemic vasculitis may be associated with ocular complications which include scleritis, keratitis, uveitis and optic neuropathy. These can precede the symptoms/signs of the systemic disease and therefore their recognition may lead to detection of the underlying disorder. The eye may also be affected by the treatment required to control the systemic disease.

Linear Corneal Epithelial Keratitis with a Horseshoe Pattern

“…Among them are Mooren's ulcer, neurotrophic keratitis, marginal staphylococcal keratitis, keratomalacia, rosacea keratitis, keratitis associated with collagenvascular diseases, and keratitis associated with atopy. 1,8 However, the keratitis in our case did not respond to local and systemic steroids, and the clinical picture did not resemble any of the keratitis types reported above. In addition, our case did not have a systemic disorder.…”

Quantitative Characterization of Autoimmune Uveoretinitis in an Experimental Mouse Model

“…Our results showed vasodilation by enlarged vessel size in EAU animals, which is consistent with reported clinical observation in autoimmune uveitis patients. 33,34 Interestingly, the correlations between major retinal vessel diameters and grading scores were not as high as that of RCT. As fluorescein injection might cause animal death, FFA was only performed on day 21 postimmunization (endpoint).…”

Atypical Conjunctival Lesion Associated With a Bladder Problem

“…However, recurrence or failure to completely respond to treatment requires further workup. Although episcleritis is usually idiopathic, up to one-third of patients have an associated systemic disorder, including collagen-vascular, inflammatory bowel, and dermatologic disorders; metabolic diseases; medication toxic effects; and hematolymphoid malignant neoplasms . This patient’s history of CLL/SLL and lack of response to oral prednisone therapy raised concern for possible conjunctival involvement by CLL/SLL.…”

“…Although episcleritis is usually idiopathic, up to one-third of patients have an associated systemic disorder, including collagen-vascular, inflammatory bowel, and dermatologic disorders; metabolic diseases; medication toxic effects; and hematolymphoid malignant neoplasms. 1,2 This patient's history of CLL/SLL and lack of response to oral prednisone therapy raised concern for possible conjunctival involvement by CLL/SLL. Although excisional biopsy is not typically performed for nodular episcleritis, it was necessary to rule out malignancy (choice B).…”