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Iritis is a form of anterior uveitis
Uveitis

Uveitis specifically refers to inflammation of the middle layer of the eye, termed the "uvea" but in common usage may refer to any inflammatory process involving the interior of the eye, with inflammation specifically of the uvea termed iridocyclitis....
 and refers to the inflammation
Inflammation

Inflammation is the complex biological response of Blood vessel tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue....
 of the iris
Iris (anatomy)

The iris is a membrane in the eye, responsible for controlling the amount of light reaching the retina. The iris consists of pigmented fibrovascular tissue known as a stroma of iris....
 of the eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
.

e are two main types of iritis: acute and chronic. They differ in numerous ways. Acute iritis is a type of iritis that can heal independently within a few weeks. If treatment is provided, acute iritis improves quickly. Chronic iritis can exist for months or years before recovery occurs.






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Iritis is a form of anterior uveitis
Uveitis

Uveitis specifically refers to inflammation of the middle layer of the eye, termed the "uvea" but in common usage may refer to any inflammatory process involving the interior of the eye, with inflammation specifically of the uvea termed iridocyclitis....
 and refers to the inflammation
Inflammation

Inflammation is the complex biological response of Blood vessel tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue....
 of the iris
Iris (anatomy)

The iris is a membrane in the eye, responsible for controlling the amount of light reaching the retina. The iris consists of pigmented fibrovascular tissue known as a stroma of iris....
 of the eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
.

Types

There are two main types of iritis: acute and chronic. They differ in numerous ways. Acute iritis is a type of iritis that can heal independently within a few weeks. If treatment is provided, acute iritis improves quickly. Chronic iritis can exist for months or years before recovery occurs. Chronic iritis does not respond to treatment as well as acute iritis does. Chronic iritis is also accompanied by a higher risk of serious visual impairment.

Signs and symptoms

  • Ocular and periorbital pain
    Pain

    Pain, in the sense of physical pain, is a typical sensory experience that may be described as the unpleasant awareness of a noxious stimulus or bodily harm....
  • Photophobia
    Photophobia

    Photophobia is a symptom of excessive sensitivity to light and the aversion to sunlight or well-lit places. In medical terms it is not fear, but an experience of discomfort or pain to the eyes due to light exposure....
  • Consensual photophobia (pain in affected eye when light is shone in unaffected eye)
  • Blurred or cloudy vision
  • Reddened eye, especially adjacent to the iris
  • White blood cells (leukocytes) (seen as tiny white dots, clinically termed cells) and protein (resulting in a grey or near-white haze, clinically termed flare) leak into the anterior chamber
    Anterior chamber

    The anterior chamber is the fluid-filled space inside the eye between the iris and the cornea's innermost surface, the endothelium. Aqueous humor is the fluid that fills the anterior chamber....
    .
  • Synechia (adhesion of iris to lens
    Lens (anatomy)

    The lens is a transparent, Lens_#Types_of_lenses structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps to refract light to be Focus on the retina....
     or cornea
    Cornea

    The cornea is the transparency front part of the eye that covers the Iris , pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the cilliary muscles, the cornea reflects light, and as a result helps the eye to dilate, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power....
    )
  • motion sickness


Causes and Comorbidities


  • Physical eye trauma


Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disorders:
  • Ankylosing Spondylitis
    Ankylosing spondylitis

    Ankylosing spondylitis It is a member of the group of the spondyloarthropathy with a strong genetic predisposition. Complete fusion results in a complete rigidity of the spine, a condition known as bamboo spine....
     and other HLA-B27
    HLA-B27

    Human Leukocyte Antigen B*27 is a class I surface antigen encoded by the B locus in the major histocompatibility complex on chromosome 6 and presents microbial antigens to T-cells....
     related disorders
  • Iridocyclitis
    Iridocyclitis

    Iridocyclitis, a type of anterior uveitis, is a condition in which the uvea of the human eye suffers inflammation....
    , and other forms of uveal tract inflammation.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
    Rheumatoid arthritis

    Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic disease inflammation that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks the joints producing a inflammatory synovitis that often progresses to destruction of the articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints....
  • Behcet's disease
    Behçet's disease

    Beh?et disease is a chronic condition due to disturbances in the body?s immune system. This system, which normally protects the body against infections through controlled inflammation, becomes overactive and produces unpredictable outbreaks of exaggerated inflammation....
  • Crohn's disease
    Crohn's disease

    Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disease which may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms....
  • Lupus
    Lupus

    Lupus may refer to:...
  • Reiter's disease
  • Chronic psoriasis
    Psoriasis

    Psoriasis is a chronic, non-contagious autoimmune disease which affects the skin and joints. It commonly causes red scaly patches to appear on the skin....
  • Psoriatic arthritis
    Psoriatic arthritis

    Psoriatic arthritis is a type of inflammatory arthritis that, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation, affects around 10-30% of people suffering from the chronic skin condition psoriasis....
  • Sarcoidosis
    Sarcoidosis

    Sarcoidosis, also called sarcoid or Besnier-Boeck disease, is a multisystem disorder characterized by non-caseating granulomas . It most commonly arises in young adults....
  • Scleroderma
    Scleroderma

    Systemic scleroderma is a systemic connective tissue disease.It is also known as "systemic Sclerosis "....
  • Ulcerative colitis
    Ulcerative colitis

    Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease . Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the intestine, specifically the large intestine or colon , that includes characteristic Peptic ulcer, or open sores, in the colon....
  • Gout
    Gout

    Gout is a crystal deposition disease hallmarked by elevated levels of uric acid in the Circulatory system. In this condition, crystals of monosodium urate or uric acid are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons and surrounding tissues....


Infections:
  • Tuberculosis
    Tuberculosis

    Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
  • Lyme Disease
    Lyme disease

    Lyme disease, or borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia....
  • Syphilis
    Syphilis

    Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact, although there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero....
  • Toxoplasmosis
    Toxoplasmosis

    Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the Felidae....
  • Toxocaridae
    Toxocaridae

    Toxocaridae is a zoonotic family of parasitic nematodes that infect canids and felids and which cause visceral larva migrans and ocular larva migrans in humans....
  • Herpes Simplex
    Herpes simplex

    Herpes simplex is a viral disease caused by Herpes simplex viruses; both herpes simplex virus 1 and herpes simplex virus 2 cause herpes simplex....
  • Herpes Zoster Virus
    Varicella zoster virus

    Varicella zoster virus is one of eight Herpesviridae known to infect humans . It commonly causes chicken-pox in children and both shingles and postherpetic neuralgia in adults....


Cancers:
  • Leukemia
    Leukemia

    Leukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood Cell , usually white blood cells ....
  • Lymphoma
    Lymphoma

    Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes of the immune system. They often originate in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node ....
  • Malignant melanoma


Iritis is usually secondary to some other systemic condition, but can be the only apparent somatic symptom.

Complications

Complications of iritis may include the following:
  • Cataract
    Cataract

    A cataract is a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete Opacity and obstructing the passage of light....
  • glaucoma
    Glaucoma

    Glaucoma is a group of diseases of the optic nerve involving loss of ganglion cell in a characteristic pattern of optic atrophy. Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma ....
  • corneal calcification
  • posterior uveitis
  • blindness
    Blindness

    Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define "blindness." Total blindness is the complete lack of form and visual light perception and is clinically recorded as "NLP," an abbreviation for "no ligh...
  • band keratopathy
    Band keratopathy

    Band keratopathy is a corneal disease derived from the appearance of calcium on the central cornea. ...
  • cystoid macular oedema.


Treatment

  • Steroid
    Steroid

    A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings, generally arranged in a 6-6-6-5 fashion.Steroids vary by the functional groups attached to these rings and the oxidation state of the rings....
     anti-inflammatory
    Anti-inflammatory

    Anti-inflammatory refers to the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation. Anti-inflammatory drugs make up about half of analgesics, remedying pain by reducing inflammation as opposed to opioids which affect the brain....
     eye drops
    Eye Drops

    Eye Drops was a television program on TechTV that showcased short computer animation movies and clips made using Commercial off-the-shelf 3D computer graphics....
     (such as prednisolone acetate)
  • Dilating eye drops (to help prevent synechia and reduce photophobia
    Photophobia

    Photophobia is a symptom of excessive sensitivity to light and the aversion to sunlight or well-lit places. In medical terms it is not fear, but an experience of discomfort or pain to the eyes due to light exposure....
    )
  • Pressure-reducing eye drops (such as brimonidine tartrate)
  • Oral steroids (such as prednisone
    Prednisone

    Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is usually taken orally but can be delivered by intramuscular injection and can be used for a number of different conditions....
    )
  • Subconjunctival
    Conjunctiva

    The conjunctiva is a clear mucous membrane consisting of cells and underlying basement membrane that covers the sclera and lines the inside of the eyelids....
     steroid injections
  • Steroid-sparing agents such as methotrexate
    Methotrexate

    Methotrexate , abbreviated MTX and formerly known as amethopterin, is an antimetabolite and antifolate drug used in treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases....
     (for prolonged, chronic iritis)


External links

  • (PDF
    Portable Document Format

    Portable Document Format is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system....
    )