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Uveitis
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The vascular membrane of the eye is located between the outer capsule of the eye and the retina, therefore it is called the middle membrane, the vascular or uveal tract of the eye. It consists of three parts: the iris - the anterior part of the vascular tract, the ciliary body (ciliary body) - the middle part of the vasculature and the vascular wall (choroid) itself - the posterior part.
Uveitis - inflammatory disease of the choroid - the most frequent pathology of this area of the eye. Uveitis occurs in 57-30% of cases and is one of the main causes of poor vision and blindness (25-30%). The high frequency of uveitis is due to the pronounced branching of the blood vessels in the eye and, in connection with this, the delayed blood flow in the choroid. All this contributes to the retention of microbes, viruses and other pathological agents, which under certain conditions cause inflammation. This is the first important feature of the choroid of the eye. Another not less important feature of the choroid of the eye is the separate circulation of the anterior (iris and ciliary body) and the posterior (actually the choroid, the choroid) of the departments. The anterior part is supplied with blood at the expense of the posterior long and anterior ciliary arteries, and the posterior part is supplied by the posterior short ciliary arteries. This contributes to the fact that the anterior and posterior parts of the choroid are usually affected separately. In this regard, there are iridotsiklity, or anterior uveitis, and choroiditis, or posterior uveitis. However, the presence of vascular anastomoses does not exclude the possibility of total destruction of them - panoveites.
The third feature is the different innervation of different parts of the vascular tract of the eye. The iris and ciliary body receive abundant innervation from the first branch of the trigeminal nerve through the ciliary nerves. The choroid has no sensitive innervation.
Causes of uveitis
Uveitis are found in all countries. Their etiology and distribution are closely related to the living conditions of the population, the circulation of pathogens, the presence of conditions, for the transmission of infection to susceptible individuals.
Data on the frequency of uveitis of different etiology vary widely, due to the epidemiological situation in different areas, the methods and evaluation criteria used for diagnosis. Over the past twenty years, there have been many reports of lesions of the uveal tract, retina and optic nerve caused by viruses, but it is very difficult to accurately determine the percentage of viral uveitis due to an ambiguous approach to their diagnosis.
[Symptoms of uveitis
Symptoms of uveitis may be different, depending on the location of the inflammatory process, the resistance of the organism and the pathogenicity of the microorganism.
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Treatment of uveitis
In cases of uveitis, chronic etiologic diagnosis, early etiotropic and pathogenetic treatment with immunocorrective agents and substitution immunotherapy are important for the prevention of chronic course, bilateral eye injury and relapse of uveitis.