What is anterior uveitis?
Anterior uveitis is a common inflammation of the eye – more specifically, the iris. The iris is the coloured part of the eye.
In anterior uveitis, the iris becomes inflamed and the blood vessels within the iris leak white blood cells and protein into the anterior chamber (the cavity in the front of the eye).
Anterior uveitis is not an infection or contagious.
What are the symptoms of anterior uveitis?
The symptoms of anterior uveitis include light sensitivity, throbbing eye pain, and blurred vision. The eye will look very red and inflamed, and some patients need to wear sunglasses to help with the light sensitivity.
What causes anterior uveitis?
In most cases we don’t know what causes it. For some patients, anterior uveitis can occur regularly. Certain systemic conditions may cause anterior uveitis and blood tests or x-rays can be done to find a potential cause.
Some conditions that contribute to the cause of anterior uveitis include:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
- Anklylosing spondlyitis
- Lupus
- Syphilis
- Gout
- Herpes virus infection
- Crohn’s disease
- Ucerative colitis,
- Psoriasis
- Eye injury
What are the risks associated with anterior uveitis?
- Anterior uveitis can be quite painful.
- If left untreated for too long, it can lead to other eye problems such as glaucoma or cause permanent structural damage and vision loss.
- It usually responds well to steroid treatment and dilating eye drops but depending on the underlying cause, there may be a tendency for the condition to come back.
How is anterior uveitis treated?
Anterior uveitis is treated by using two different eye drops:
- One drop to dilate the pupil and help reduce eye pain associated with the pupil changing size.
- The second drop is a steroid to calm the inflammation
Depending on the severity of the Anterior uveitis, the drops may be used for up to four weeks.