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Uveitis
From WikEM
Contents
Background
- Uveitis = inflammation of iris, ciliary body, and/or choroid
Types
- Anterior Uveitis
- Inflammation of iris and/or ciliary body
- Types:
- Iritis
- Iridocyclitis
- Posterior uveitis = choroiditis
Causes
- Inflammatory
- Associated with HLA B-27
- 50% have associated systemic disease
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Reactive arthritis
- inflammatory bowel disease
- Sarcoidosis
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Behcet disease
- Kawasaki disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Wegener’s granulomatosis
- Environmental
- Trauma
- Corneal foreign body
- UV keratitis
- Infectious (uncommon)
Clinical Features
Anterior
- Sudden red/painful eye
- Deep pain; worse with eye movement
- Due to ciliary muscle spasm which irritates CN V
- Causes consensual photophobia
- Due to ciliary muscle spasm which irritates CN V
- Limbic redness (as opposed to perilimbal sparing seen in conjunctivitis)
- Poorly reactive pupil
Posterior
- Floaters
- Visual changes
- Generally does not cause redness or significant pain
- Blind spots or flashing lights
Differential Diagnosis
Unilateral Red Eye
- Acute angle-closure glaucoma^
- Anterior uveitis
- Caustic keratoconjunctivitis^^
- Conjunctival laceration
- Conjunctivitis
- Corneal abrasion
- Corneal erosion
- Ocular foreign body
- Corneal ulcer^
- Endophthalmitis^
- Episcleritis
- Globe rupture^
- Herpes zoster ophthalmicus
- Intraocular foreign body
- Inflamed pingueculum
- Inflamed Pterygium
- Keratoconjunctivitis
- Keratoconus
- Lens dislocation
- Nontraumatic iritis
- Scleritis^
- Subconjunctival hemorrhage
- Traumatic hyphema
- Traumatic iritis
- Ultraviolet keratitis
^Emergent diagnoses
^^Critical diagnoses
Acute onset flashers and floaters
- Ocular causes
- Floaters and/or flashes
- Posterior Vitreous Detachment
- Retinal tear or Retinal Detachment
- Posterior Uveitis
- Predominantly floaters
- Vitreous Hemorrhage secondary to proliferative retinopathy
- Sympathetic ophthalmia
- Predominantly flashes
- Oculodigital stimulation
- Rapid eye movements
- Neovascular age-related macular degeneration
- Floaters and/or flashes
- Nonocular causes
- Migraine aura (classic)
- Migraine aura (acephalgicmigraine)
- Occipital lobe disorders
- Postural hypotension
Evaluation
- Slit-lamp
- Cell (WBCs from uveal vessels) & flare (proteinaceous transudate from uveal vessels)
- Hypopyon (with severe disease)
- CXR (uveitis often associated with sarcoidosis, TB)
Management
Infectious
- Treat the underlying infection
Noninfectious
- Anterior uveitis
- Topical steroid (anterior only; typically in consultation with opthalmology)
- Prednisolone 1%
- Mydriatics (sympathomimetics)
- Prevents the formation of synechiae
- Phenylephrine HCl or Hydroxyamphetamine HBr
- Cycloplegics
- Relieves pain
- Scopolamine 0.25% OR cyclopentolate 1%
- Topical steroid (anterior only; typically in consultation with opthalmology)
- Posterior Uveitis
- Generally not responsive to topical treatment
- Consult ophtho for observation vs intraocular steroid injection
Disposition
- Ophtho consult within 24-48hr
Complications
- Cataracts
- Glaucoma (from synechia)
- Retinal detachment
See Also
References
Authors
Ross Donaldson, Jordan Swartz, Tianjiang Ye, Claire, Daniel Ostermayer, Neil Young
