Optician India

Welcome to question of the day #87

A 30-year-old male patient presents with a unilateral red eye and blurred vision in that eye with onset one day ago. The patient is photophobic and has a small pupil in eye that is red. He denies having any previous episodes. What is going on?

The main ingredients here are a recent red eye, light sensitivity and a small pupil all in the same eye. This sounds very much like anterior uveitis also known as iritis.

Iritis is inflammation of the iris and has several possible causes:

Eye injury

Infection from bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi

Inflammatory autoimmune diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis, lupus, sarcoidosis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Injury

Reactions to medicines

Leukaemia

Kawasaki syndrome (lymph node disease in young children).

Eye complications can cause permanent loss of vision:

Abnormal adhesion of the iris to other eye structures (synechiae)

Cataracts

Calcium deposits on the cornea (band keratopathy)

Inflammation of the vitreous

Inflammation of the retina

Optic nerve damage in severe cases, causing blindness

Glaucoma

Macular oedema.

Recent onset iritis is an ocular emergency and the patient deserves immediate referral to an ophthalmologist.