Uveitis types and causes

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 pm Post in Eye Diseases

Uveitis is the inflammation of the eye’s uvea. Based on different parts of the uvea, there are several types of uveitis. The most common type anterior uveitis refers to iris inflammation, and ciliary body inflammation is called intermediate uveitis. Posterior uveitis refers to inflammation of the choroid, and the whole uvea inflammation is named diffuse uveitis. And different types of uveitis have different symptoms. While anterior uveitis causes strong pain, redness, light sensitivity and blurry vision, both intermediate and posterior uveitis are usually painless.

People between 20 and 50 are most likely to suffer uveitis, which may bring numerous complications such as cataract, high IOP, glaucoma, retinal swelling and retinal detachment. All of these complications may bring vision loss.

In many cases, uveitis is idiopathic. Trauma to the eye can help your ECP to identify the underlying causes. Potential immunological systemic disorders that can cause uveitis include ankylosing spondylitis, birdshot retinochoroidopathy, brucellosis, herpes simplex, herpes zoster, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis etc…

Varying types of uveitis require different forms of steroids to relieve inflammation in the eye. For example, anterior uveitis need steroid eye drops, while posterior uveitis usually requires steroid tablets or steroid injection. The dosage of steroid treatment (especially pills) must be precise, since there are various potential side effects such as kidney damage, high blood sugar, high blood pressure and glaucoma. Patients should always strictly follow the doctor’s instructions. Furthermore, pupil-dilating eye drops can be used to reduce pain caused by anterior uveitis. Elevated IOP can be lowered by other forms of eye drops.

The Bausch & Bomb’s drug Retisert has received FDA approval to treat chronic non-infectious posterior uveitis. Other drugs are undergoing clinical trials.