Systemic disease and the eye Flashcards
What is the most common of all systemic diseases in eye clinics?
diabetes mellitus
What forms of sight impairment registration is diabetes a major cause of?
Both blind (severely sight impaired) and partial sighted (sight-impaired) registration in people under 65
What is a key endocrine disease associated with eye disease?
Graves’ disease - form of hypERthyroidism
What is ophthalmic Graves’ disease?
Clinical changes of Graves’ disease in the eye/orbit but clinically and biochemically euthyroid
What (briefly) is the physiology underlying Graves’ disease of the eye?
Immunologically mediated disease in which circulating auto-antibodies attack structures of the orbit and extra-ocular muscles
What is the key effect of Graves’ disease on the eye?
Inflammation of orbital and periorbital tissues
What are 5 EYE symptoms that a patient with Graves’ disease may present with?
- Exophthalmos (aka proptosis)
- Grossly swollen extra-ocular muscles –> restricted eye movements
- Lid retraction
- Lid lag
- Blindness
What causes exophthalmos/proptosis in Graves’ disease?
inflamed tissue in orbit (extra-ocular fat or peri-orbital muscles) forces the globe forwards; the orbit is an enclosed space, so the only direction for expansion is forwards.
Which extra-ocular muscles are particular affected by gross swelling in Graves’ disease?
medial and inferior recti
What is a consequence of the grossly swollen extra-ocular muscles?
Restricted eye movements
What is lid retraction?
Abnormally raised position of upper lid
What is lid lag?
Delayed following of upper lid as patient looks down
What are 2 things that can cause blindness in
- Optic nerve damage
2. Corneal perforation
What can cause optic nerve damage leading to blindness in Graves’ disease?
inflamed tissue in the orbit which compresses the nerve (irreparable)
What can cause corneal perforation leading to blindness in Graves’ disease?
eyelids and tear film provide barrier to surface of globe; when pushed forwards, lids can’t completely close –> drying, increased risk of infection, thinning and eventual perforation of the cornea
Where do the upper eyelids normally come down to (that is disrupted in graves’ disease: retraction)?
Normally rests just over the upper part of the cornea, covers the superior limbus (junction between cornea and sclera) - in Graves’ disease, can see continuous rim of sclera round cornea (see image)
What causes restricted eye movements in Graves’ disease?
Inflammation of infra-orbital and peri-ocular tissues, restricting movement of the globe
Look at an MRI of the orbit in Graves’ disease - how can the extra-ocular muscles be identified? What will be abnormal?
4 petal like structures = extra-ocular muscles just posterior to the globe. Grossly enlarged due to circulating auto-antibodies
Why can anything in neurology cause ophthalmic disease?
ophthalmology comprises the eye and visual system, and one third of the brain is devoted to the visual system –> any lesion that interferes with the visual pathways may present to an ophthalmologist
What are 8 neurological conditions with big implications for the eyes?
- CNIII palsy
- CNIV palsy
- CNVI palsy
- Horner’s syndrome
- Multiple sclerosis –> optic neuritis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myotonic dystrophy
What are the three key symptoms of Horner’s syndrome, plus three additional symptoms?
- meiosis (small pupil), non-reactive pupil, anisocoria (different sized pupils)
- ptosis
- anhydrosis
- eye sunken back into socket
- facial flushing
- inability to completely close or open eye
What causes Horner’s syndrome?
Disruption in the pathway in the sympathetic nervous system i.e. compression of sympathetic chain (from hypothalamus to face and neck)
What are 3 points at which the cause of Horner’s syndrome can occur? Give examples for each.
- First order neuron: arises at hypothalamus –> through brainstem to upper spinal cord. [stroke, tumour, syringomyelia]
- Second order neuron: upper spinal cord, across upper thorax and into neck [Pancoast’s tumour in lung apex, schannoma, aortic disease]
- Third order neuron: neck to facial skin, muscles of eyelids and iris [base of skull tumour/ infection, cluster headaches/migraines, carotid artery dissection]
What 2 ocular symptoms will there be in myasthenia gravis?
Ptosis, ocular motility problems
What 3 ocular symptoms will there be in myotonic dystrophy?
Ocular motility problems and ptosis, double vision due to problems with eye movements and use of extraocular muscles
What position will the eye be in in a unilateral third nerve palsy?
Down and out
What is the main concern of the underlying cause in Horner’s syndrome?
carotid artery dissection
What visual problems can be caused by a pituitary adenoma?
pituitary located close to optic chiasm –> bitemporal visual field loss (in practice usually slightly different in each eye: incongruous temporal hemianopia)
What ophthalmic disease can hypertension cause in the eye?
hypertensive retinopathy
What ophthalmic diseases can arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis lead to?
anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (cause of artery and vein occlusions)
What can systemic hyperlipidaemia lead to in the eye?
greater chance of hard exudates in diabetic retinopathy
What can embolic phenomena systemically lead to in the eye?
- Central retinal artery occlusion
- Branch retinal artery occlusion
–> both are essential strokes, treated with referral for stroke review - Central retinal vein occlusion
Branch retinal vein occlusion
What are 9 rheumatological diseases which may cause eye disease?
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Seronegative arthritides HLA-B27 positive e.g. ankylosing spondylitis, Reier’s disease
- Sjögren’s syndrome
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Behcet’s disease
- Sarcoidosis: intraocular inflammation
- SLE
- Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
- Giant cell arteritis
What type of eye disease can rheumatoid arthritis cause?
scleritis, episcleritis
What type of eye disease can HLA-B27 positive seronegative arthritides cause?
anterior uveitis
What type of eye disease can Sjögren’s disease cause?
Dry eye
What type of eye disease can juvenile idiopathic arthritis cause?
anterior uveitis in children
What type of eye disease can Behcet’s disease cause?
Devastating panuveitis
What type of eye disease can sarcoidosis cause?
intraocular inflammation
What are dry eyes in rheumatological disease often a sign of and what can they cause?
rheumatoid arthritis, can cause secondary Sjögren’s
What rheumatological disease is usually the cause of episcleritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis
What are the symptoms of episcleritis? see image
- localised area of superficial redness
- not particularly painful, may have some discomfort
- SEGMENTALLY red rather than entire sclera (e.g. just nasal or temporal aspect)
How is episcleritis (usually secondary to rheumatoid arthritis) usually treated?
Lubricants or short course of anti-inflammatory medication
What are 4 diseases that uveitis can be secondary to?
- Behcet’s
- Sarcoidosis
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Seronegative arthropathy HLA-B27+
What rheumatological disease can retinal vascular occlusion occur secondarily to?
SLE
What rheumatological disease can orbital disease/ inflammation occur secondary to?
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
What disease can anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy occur secondary to, and what else can this present with?
Giant cell arteritis (can also present with CRAO)
What are the 2 key symptoms of scleritis and how is it different from episcleritis?
- severe pain - patient in agony
2. redness - different quality from episcleritis, much deeper vessels dilated
What type of scleritis causes problems for ophthalmologists and why?
Posterior scleritis - little to see at front, patients still complain of discomfort
How might evidence of posterior scleritis be able to be detected?
Ophthalmoscopy: choroidal folds
What conditions can corneal melt be associated with?
Rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions
Look at an image showing corneal melt. How can it occur?
Dilation of local blood vessels at limbus (junction sclera-cornea), area line of whiteness, round shaped: peripheral infiltrate at the limbus and area of thinning where cornea is disintegrating
What are the dangers of corneal melt?
sight and eye threatening: can rapidly progress to corneal perforation/intra-ocular inflammation
What is the management of corneal melt?
- needs urgent referral to ophthalmologist and treatment with systemic high dose immunosuppressant medication
- corneal graft