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Objectives: To evaluate the demographic characteristics, clinical findings, and treatment approach of patients with sympathetic ophthalmia (SO)., Materials and Methods: The records of 14 patients with SO between 2000 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients' Snellen best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), detailed ophthalmological examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), enhanced depth imaging-OCT (EDI-OCT), fundus fluorescein angiography findings, and treatment approaches were recorded., Results: The study included the 14 sympathizing eyes of 14 patients with SO (7 female, 7 male). The mean age was 48.5±15.4 years (range: 28-75), and the mean follow-up duration was 55.1±48.7 months (range: 6-204). Ten patients (71%) had a history of ocular trauma and 4 (29%) had a history of ocular surgery. The time to symptom onset in the sympathizing eye after trauma or ocular surgery ranged from 15 days to 60 years. The most common posterior segment findings were optic disc edema (36%) and exudative retinal detachment (36%). In the acute period, the mean choroidal thickness value on EDI-OCT was 716.5±63.6 μm (range: 635-772) and decreased to 296±81.6 μm (range: 240-415) after treatment. Treatment with high-dose systemic corticosteroid was given to 8 patients (57%), azathioprine (AZA) to 7 (50%), AZA and cyclosporine-A combination to 7 (50%), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors to 3 patients (21%). Recurrence was observed in 4 patients (29%) during follow-up. At last follow-up, BCVA values were better than 20/50 in 11 (79%) of the sympathizing eyes. Remission was achieved in 13 patients (93%), but 1 patient (7%) lost her vision due to acute retinal necrosis., Conclusion: SO is a bilateral inflammatory disease that presents with granulomatous panuveitis after ocular trauma or surgery. Favorable functional and anatomical results can be obtained with early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors., (©Copyright 2023 by Turkish Ophthalmological Association Turkish Journal of Ophthalmology, published by Galenos Publishing House.)

Purpose of Review: Sympathetic ophthalmia is a bilateral granulomatous uveitis that occurs following unilateral trauma or surgery and is sight-threatening in the contralateral eye. Despite significant potential morbidity, disease remains poorly understood. Variable presentations and clinical courses, as well as a lack of definitive diagnostic laboratory tests can complicate the diagnosis and result in delayed treatment, which can beget permanent vision loss. This review focuses on recent advances in areas of pathophysiology, classification, diagnosis and treatment., Recent Findings: Sympathetic ophthalmia is thought to involve a cell-mediated immune response to retinal and uveal antigens exposed through trauma or surgery. Multiple mechanisms have been implicated, including activation of the interleukin-23/IL-17 pathway. Ongoing emphasis is placed on early disease recognition and prompt treatment with multimodal imaging. Multiple authors advocate for the routine use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for screening and disease monitoring. Systemic steroids and steroids sparing-immunosuppressive agents remain the mainstay of treatment., Summary: Understanding pathophysiology may provide useful targets for drug development, as well as allow for identification of patients at risk. OCT is a useful tool in early diagnosis and management of sympathetic ophthalmia, as OCT changes may precede clinical symptoms and signs, allowing for early disease detection and better visual outcomes., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is a rare inflammation of an operated or injured eye that spreads to the fellow eye. It is typically a bilateral granulomatous panuveitis. The traumatized eye is referred to as inciting eye and the fellow eye as sympathizing eye. The pathophysiology of the disease is not entirely understood, but there is strong evidence of an autoimmune genesis., Patients/material and Methods: A selective literature search on epidemiology, immunology, clinical features and risk factors of SO was carried out. In addition, our own experience using multimodal imaging for this clinical entity was introduced., Results: In the literature, the incidence after traumatic eye injuries is 0.1 - 3% and approximately 0.01% after intraocular surgery. Among the iatrogenic causes, vitreoretinal surgery has the highest rate of SO, presumably due to disruption of the blood-retinal barrier and involvement of retinal and choroidal tissue, which are susceptible to anterior traction, phthisis and chronic inflammation. In 90% of patients, the disease develops within a year following the eliciting event and is associated with a potentially bilateral risk of blindness. Typical symptoms include bilateral visual impairment with photophobia, dull pain and photopsia. The spectrum of clinical manifestations ranges from granulomatous anterior uveitis and vitritis, to choroiditis, serous retinal detachment and Dalen-Fuchs nodules in the context of posterior involvement. The diagnosis of SO is generally based on clinical presentation and is supported by imaging methods. These primarily comprise fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography, which are increasingly being supplemented by non-invasive methods such as optical coherence tomography. They can provide important information for assessment of severity, differential diagnosis as well as for disease monitoring. The differential diagnosis includes i. a. Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, ocular sarcoidosis and the rare phacoanaphylactic endophthalmitis. Immediate systemic high-dose steroid therapy is used as initial treatment. The course of the disease is often relapsing to chronic progressive. Immunomodulators such as ciclosporine A, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, and biologics are increasingly being used and contribute to the significantly better prognosis of the disease. Generally, SO can be triggered by any kind of intraocular intervention., Conclusion: SO remains a threatening clinical diagnosis that poses diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. It can be triggered post-traumatic, but also any intraocular surgery. This should be taken into account when assessing the indication for intraocular eye surgery, especially in eyes with reduced visual outcome., Competing Interests: UP: Consultant: Abbvie, Allergan, Novartis, Santen, Thea; Section chair: Uveitis – German Society of Ophthalmology./UP: Berater Abbvie, Allergan, Novartis, Santen, Thea; Sprecher: Sektion Uveitis/DOG., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To analyze the demographic profile, treatment, and visual outcome of the patients with sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) in a multicenter collaborative retrospective cohort study. Methods: Medical records of the patients with SO from UK, Singapore, India were reviewed for history of ocular trauma or surgery and subsequent development of uveitis consistent with SO, presenting symptoms, treatment, and visual outcomes. Results: A total of 130 patients were diagnosed with SO during the study period. Eighty-one (62.3%) patients were men. The mean age was 48.4 ± 15.5 years. The most common presenting symptom was blurring of vision (89.2%), followed by pain (29.2%) and floaters (23.8%). Ninety-two (70.7%) required additional immunosuppressive therapy. Thirty-six (27.9%) patients underwent enucleation of the inciting eye. Conclusions: SO is a potentially sight-threatening disease with high rates of visual loss. It warrants prompt evaluation and treatment. With the advances and availability in immunotherapy, the visual prognosis is relatively good.

Purpose: To describe clinical manifestations, management and visual outcome in postsurgical sympathetic ophthalmia (SO)., Methods: Retrospective study., Results: Mean age of the patients was 41.1 years, and males were affected 1.8 times than the female. Vitrectomy and scleral buckling were the most common inciting surgeries followed by cataract surgery. Among 10 eyes with anterior uveitis, mutton-fat keratic precipitate was seen in only two eyes. Mean follow-up duration was 1556.50 ± 1470.75 days. Vision significantly improved in 11 patients (78.6%; p = 0.005)., Conclusion: Postsurgical SO is a rare entity, but it is a bilateral blinding disease and SO following surgical intervention can have variable presentations. Rapid, effective management of postsurgical sympathetic ophthalmia can give improved visual outcomes.

Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is a rare, bilateral, non-necrotizing, granulomatous uveitis that usually occurs after open ocular injury or intraocular surgery. The pathophysiology is not clearly understood, but generally SO is an immediate hypersensitivity mediated by T lymphocytes which are related to ocular tissue antigens. The main histopathological features are granulation tissues composed of lymphocytes, macrophages and multinucleated giant cells. The clinical manifestations are different from person to person, which might be mild or severe. Although it could be presented with anterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis and posterior uveitis, panuveitis is the most common sign. The ophthalmic examinations, such as fundus fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography and B-scan, could be used to observe the patients' conditions and monitor the therapeutic effect. The main treatment of SO is medical therapy with corticosteroids, immunomodulators and biomodulators. Topical drug administration, including intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide and implantation of a fluocinolone acetonide implant, can be considered. There is controversy about whether enucleation or evisceration is more appropriate and when the procedure should be done. The prognosis of SO could be poor. SO is liable to deteriorate and may lead to blindness. This article reviews the etiology, mechanisms, histopathology, clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of SO. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53:778-782) .

Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO), also known assympathetic uveitis, is a rare bilateral granulomatous panuveitis that occurs after a penetrating injury to an eye. After injury from either surgery or accident, a variable period of time passes before a sight-threatening inflammation develops in both the eyes. The disease usually responds rapidly to corticosteroid therapy, but recalcitrant cases may require the addition of other immunosuppressive agents. A severely injured eye with no prognosis for vision should be enucleated within 2 weeks of injury to prevent SO. The purpose of this article is to highlight the risks of SO associated with the orbital fractures involving soft tissue components of the orbit. Though unusual, a maxillofacial surgeon, while operating on the orbital walls involving the soft tissue disruption, has to be aware of this condition so that the postoperative complications related to vision can be avoided., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The objective is to discuss the characteristics of three patients who developed sympathetic ophthalmia following vitreoretinal surgery. The first case was a 29-year-old man who underwent placement of an encircling band, pars plana vitrectomy, foreign body removal, endolaser photocoagulation, transscleral cryotherapy, and silicone oil injection due to a retained foreign body 3 months after a corneoscleral rupture repair. He experienced visual loss in the fellow eye 2 months after the vitrectomy. An extensive exudative detachment was detected in the fellow eye. Sympathetic ophthalmia was diagnosed and systemic steroids together with azathioprine were initiated. The injured eye was enucleated as there was no useful vision. The other two cases were operated for rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. One underwent placement of an encircling band, pars plana vitrectomy, silicone oil injection, and endolaser photocoagulation with good anatomic outcome. However, 4 months later, the fellow eye experienced severe visual loss with disc swelling and hyperemia and exudative retinal detachment. Systemic steroid was sufficient to reverse the process and the visual acuity recovered. The other case underwent placement of an encircling band, subretinal fluid drainage, SF(6) injection and 360 degrees indirect laser photocoagulation. Two years later, he noted a sudden visual decrease in the fellow eye in which we detected a Harada-like extensive exudative detachment. Systemic steroid without immunosuppressive therapy rendered regression of the detachment and recovery of good visual acuity. Sympathetic ophthalmia may occur following vitreoretinal surgery either for trauma-related problems or rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Since it may present with relatively mild anterior segment findings and mainly posterior segment involvement; any visual disturbance in the fellow eye of a patient with a history of perforating trauma or vitreoretinal surgery should be thoroughly evaluated for sympathetic ophthalmia.

The paper gives the methods of plasmapheresis-based extracorporeal exposure to blood and its components to correct hemostatic disorders. Afferent methods, as well as quantum hemotherapy methods are outlined. The immunomodulating mechanism of their action, which favors a prompter elimination of inflammation, increases ocular functions, and reduces recurrences, is revealed. The mechanisms of action of plasmapheresis as a technique used alone and in combination with laser and ultraviolet blood irradiation and indications for and contraindications to the use of various hemocorrection methods are described.

Sympathetic ophthalmia was a well-known but greatly feared entity in the 19th and most of the 20th century. This article reviews the Canadian medical literature, tracing the prophylactic and therapeutic modalities offered to treat this blinding affliction.

Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare, bilateral granulomatous uveitis that occurs after either surgical or accidental trauma to one eye. The etiology is still not completely clear, but evidence suggests that sympathetic ophthalmia represents an autoimmune inflammatory response against choroidal melanocytes mediated by T cells. Key features are vision impairment and symptoms associated with inflammation. The diagnosis is based on a history of previous ocular trauma or surgery and clinical findings. Differential diagnoses include other causes of granulomatous uveitis, such as Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and syphilis. Depending on the suspected etiology, treatment of sympathetic ophthalmia consists of systemic anti-inflammatory agents, including corticosteroids and immunomodulating drugs. The role of enucleation after the diagnosis of sympathetic ophthalmia remains controversial. Visual prognosis is reasonably good with prompt appropriate wound repair and immunomodulatory therapy. As the occurrence of sympathetic ophthalmia is probably more frequent following vitreoretinal surgery, more attention has to be paid to this potentially bilateral blinding disorder.

This paper presents a case of Sympathetic ophthalmia following a penetrating ocular injury produced 30 days ago, of a patient who postponed the presentation to the ophthalmologist.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of treatment on prevention of disease development and protection of visual outcomes in patients suffering from sympathetic ophthalmia., Methods: Retrospective case., Results: Four patients with sympathetic ophthalmia were treated in our department from 1999 to 2004. All patients were men with the mean age 27.5 years (15-49 years). In two patients, there was a history of penetrating eye injury prior to the onset of sympathetic ophthalmia, in other two patients sympathetic ophthalmia occurred after eye surgery (pars plana vitrectomy), with no previous ocular trauma. Two patients were treated with monotherapy of corticosteroids; other two patients were commenced on combined immunosuppression. In all these cases, the therapy was effective., Conclusion: Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare, sight-threatening eye disease. Among the triggering factors dominates penetrating eye injury, however, there is currently an increase in the number of cases with sympathetic ophthalmia following eye surgery, mainly pars plana vitrectomy. Early introduction of immunosuppressive treatment can get the disease under control, prevent the development of intraocular inflammation and improve visual outcomes.

Background: Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is an uncommon uveitic condition that occurs after injury to the uvea of one eye and may occur after accidental ocular trauma or ocular surgery. We sought to investigate the common causes of SO in Singapore and the demographic profile as well as the final visual acuity after treatment in these patients., Methods: This was a retrospective, non-comparative case series in which patients with SO were identified from the Singapore National Eye Centre uveitis database in the period between 1993 and 2003. The patients' case records were examined for a history of ocular trauma or surgery and subsequent development of bilateral or contralateral uveitis consistent with SO or histopathological evidence of SO in enucleated eyes. The medical records of these patients were reviewed for details of the inciting event, presentation, treatment, and visual acuity., Results: A total of ten patients (six men and four women) were diagnosed with SO in the period of study. SO occurred after accidental trauma in three patients and following ocular surgery in seven. Vitreoretinal surgery was responsible for four of these cases, and diode laser cyclophotoablation for another two, whereas neodymium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser cyclotherapy was the cause in the last patient. Overall, six of ten patients underwent at least one vitreoretinal procedure. Four of the patients had a final visual acuity of 6/15 or better, whereas five had a visual acuity of 6/30 or worse. Good final visual acuity appeared to be associated with early initiation of immunosuppressive therapy., Conclusion: In this series, ocular surgery, especially vitreoretinal surgery, had overtaken non-surgical trauma as the major cause of SO. A good outcome was possible in most cases if an early diagnosis was made and immunosuppressive treatment started promptly.

We present the case of a 61 years old male, who developed symphathetic ophthalmia, following a penetrating injury in one eye. After the injury had been sutured, the traumatized eye was red and painful. Considering the risk of sympathetic ophthalmia, the doctor decided the enucleation of the injured eye, but the patient refused and he had not come back to the recommended follow-ups. He returned to the hospital seven months later with decreased visual acuity in both eyes, caused by bilateral uveitis. The diagnosis was sympathetic ophthalmia. He improved and recovered an acceptable visual acuity after enucleation of the injured eye and the administration of both topical and systemic steroids. But the premature stopping of the maintenance therapy with low-dose systemic steroids, results in a relapse--a worse uveitis.

Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare, bilateral granulomatous uveitis that occurs after either surgical or accidental trauma to one eye. The ocular inflammation in the fellow eye becomes apparent usually within 3 months after injury. Clinical presentation is an insidious or acute anterior uveitis with mutton-fat keratic precipitates. The posterior segment manifests moderate to severe vitritis, usually accompanied by multiple yellowish-white choroidal lesions. Evidence suggests that sympathetic ophthalmia represents an autoimmune inflammatory response against choroidal melanocytes mediated by T cells. Diagnosis is based on clinical findings and a history of previous ocular trauma or surgery. Other causes of granulomatous uveitis, such as Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and syphilis should be considered. Treatment of sympathetic ophthalmia consists of systemic anti-inflammatory agents with high dose oral corticosteroid as the drug of choice. However, if the inflammation cannot be controlled, cyclosporine is then used. Other immunosuppressive agents, such as chlorambucil, cyclophosphamide or azathioprine, may be necessary for the control of inflammation. The role of enucleation after the diagnosis of sympathetic ophthalmia remains controversial. Visual prognosis is reasonably good with prompt wound repair and appropriate immunomodulatory therapy.

Symphatetic uveitis was a fairly common and described disease in 19th century. Many cases of bilateral blindncss associated with injury and inflammation were diagnosed as sympathetic ophthalmia. A penetrating wound appears to be essential for the development of symphathetic ophthalmia. Since the antigen-presenting cell, of the eye appear to be functionally suppressed in situ, these antigens normaly would produce an inactivation signal. Authors present a case of 7 years old boy, who had injury of the right eye in the school. We performed surgery, but that right eye after several months went to subatrophy. Three months later, he come again with problems in left eye. We diagnosed symphatetic ophthalmia and included high doses of steroids. Two years after he is still on high dose of steroids due to two times of egxazcrbation. A month ago we perfomed phacoecmulsofication cataract syrgery, because a cataract developed due to high doses of steroid therapy.

Purpose: To report a case of sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) associated with cataract surgery and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation., Methods: Case report., Results: A 50-year-old man developed SO two months after complicated cataract surgery and IOL implantation. Adequate and prompt use of immunosuppressive medications and removal of the IOL by pars plana vitrectomy techniques resulted in control of the uveitis with significant visual improvement., Conclusions: Sympathetic ophthalmia should be included as one of the devastating complications of IOL insertion. A high index of suspicion must be maintained whenever inflammation occurs in the fellow eye of an eye that has undergone intraocular surgery.

Aims: To establish current epidemiological data, risks, and interventional outcomes of newly diagnosed sympathetic ophthalmia (SO)., Methods: Prospective surveillance took place of all permanently employed ophthalmologists in the UK and Republic of Ireland by a monthly reporting card through the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit. Case ascertainment was made of newly diagnosed SO from July 1997 and questionnaire data were returned at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year after diagnosis., Results: 23 patients with newly diagnosed SO were recruited over 15 months, corresponding to a minimum estimated incidence of 0.03/100 000. Baseline data were available on 18 patients, in whom SO occurred after surgery in 11 patients, after retinal surgery alone in six patients, and after accidental trauma in seven patients. 12 of the 16 patients with 1 year follow up had a visual acuity of 6/12 or better. Good visual outcome was related to prompt and adequate systemic immunosuppressive therapy., Conclusions: The incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia is very low. The main current risk is surgery, particularly retinal surgery, but visual prognosis is good if early diagnosis is made and rapid, adequate immunotherapy is commenced.

Background: Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare form of autoimmune uveitis and manifests in 90% of cases within the first year after penetrating injuries or surgical interventions., Patients and Methods: In the present case the sympathetic ophthalmia started 50 years after a penetrating injury by a shell splinter. The injured eye was amaurotic and phthitic and the sympathizing eye showed an anterior uveitis. After an initial treatment with local and systemic corticosteroids the uveitis improved. The clinical diagnosis of sympathetic ophthalmia was made after a second inflammation course with substantial visual loss and subtotal chorioidal detachment. After enucleation of the exciting eye the diagnosis was confirmed by histological examination. An immunosuppressive therapy including azathioprine and cyclosporine became necessary to control the uveitis., Results: After enucleation the corticosteroid treatment was not sufficient. Additional therapy with azathioprine resulted in a recovery of the symptoms but had to be stopped because of adverse reactions. The alternative therapy by means of cyclosporine was tolerated well, but dose reduction was difficult because of recurrences. After a 30 month lasting cyclosporine therapy the patient shows stabile results since 6 months with visual acuity of 20/30., Conclusions: The present case report demonstrates that a delayed onset of sympathetic ophthalmia 50 years after initial trauma may occur but can be controlled by an immediate, high dose immunotherapy.

A complicated cataract on the only eye was effectively extracted in a patient with uveitis running a sluggish course with manifest disorders of T-cell immunity. Immune correction in combination with routine therapy of uveitis helped prepare the patient to surgery for cataract and attain good results.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to show the severity of sympathetic ophthalmia and the need for immunosuppressive treatment., Methods: The study included five cases of sympathetic ophthalmia following ocular injury in three cases and evisceration in two cases. The ocular lesions included total uveitis in all cases with papillary oedema in two cases. The treatment was based on corticosteroid therapy, with immunodepressants in four cases., Results: Functional prognosis was good in four cases, with final visual acuity between 3/10 and 10/10., Conclusion: Immunosuppressive treatment must be used on all cases of sympathetic ophthalmia with the goal of improving visual prognosis.

Clinical factors of risk of sympathic ophthalmia (SO) determined by the type of injury, methods of surgical and drug treatment, and supported by published data were distinguished as a result of treating 158 patients with SO at the Helmholts Research Institute of Ophthalmic Diseases from 1965 to 1994. Special attention is paid to the possibility of SO development during steroid therapy of posttraumatic uveitis. In such cases SO develops in case of 1) sudden discontinuation of a course of steroids; 2) discontinuation of a short course of steroid therapy in the presence of persisting signs of posttraumatic uveitis; and 3) in surgery on the traumatized (operated on) eyes and low steroid doses.

Sympathetic ophthalmia is probably the ocular disorder best known to practitioners outside of ophthalmology. It is characterized by a bilateral, nonnecrotizing granulomatous panuveitis that occurs after intentional or unintentional trauma to the exciting eye. So far, the identity of the inciting antigen has not been delineated with certainty. The sequelae from sympathetic ophthalmia have declined markedly in this century as a result of earlier diagnosis, use of corticosteroids, and better management of ocular injuries, in large part due to improved surgical techniques. Cases of sympathetic ophthalmia, however, still occur with their severe sight-threatening complications, which impose on ophthalmologists the importance of prompt diagnosis and aggressive treatment in order to achieve good visual outcome.

The paper presents the case of a 62-year-old male patient, which has been hospitalized with the symptomatology of a acute glaucoma through intumescent lens. After the lens extraction, the globe evolution was to atrophy with chronic irrigation, starting a hypertensive cyclitis at the other eye, assumed to be a sympathetic ophthalmia. After several acute evolutive episodes at both eyes, the enucleation of the primal eye was made and a ciliary body tumour (neurinoma) was discovered. After enucleation under general and local cortisone treatment, the inflammatory phenomena at the sympathetic eye were entering in remission; but the hypertony, which was considered to be an open-angle pre-existent glaucoma, was persistent. The paper also discusses the sympathetic ophthalmia producing mechanism the characteristics of the ciliary body tumour and the diagnosis problems raised by this case.

Exchange plasmapheresis was used in correction of the immune homeostasis in 5 patients with sympathetic ophthalmia. The inflammatory process ceased in all the cases. Exchange plasmapheresis resulted in improvement of the blood supply to ocular vessels, of intraocular vessel function, and of metabolic processes in the external layers of the retina. Cellular and humoral immunity parameters normalized. The hemo- and hydrodynamic parameters of the eye improved; all these results evidence that exchange plasmapheresis is an effective method in the treatment of sympathetic ophthalmia.

Ophthalmologists are daily confronted with intraocular inflammation following trauma and/or intraocular surgery. In rare cases, this may lead to the loss of visual function in both eyes, i.e. sympathetic ophthalmia (SO). In order to reduce the scope of responsible action between enucleation of the exciting eye (EE), which still has good vision, and progressive inflammation of the second eye (SE) resulting in blindness if action is delayed, a score system was established based on all SO symptoms which had become known from the literature and personal communications up the end of 1988. The score system developed by HANNE et al. allows causal differentiation between SO or uveitis of other genesis in the partner eye taking into account the prior history and findings in the EE and the occurrence of symptoms after the last accident/operation and findings in the SE. If the last eye is involved, the presence of SO should be assumed in every case where there are signs of intraocular inflammation in order to allow immediate commencement of anti-inflammatory therapy, the more so since it is known that corticosteroids and cytostatics (this also applies to cyclosporin A) can only arrest the immunopathologic processes in the initial phase of the disease.

The authors give an account of a case of sympathetic ophthalmia which was successfully managed by reoperation of the injured eye, corticoids and immunosuppressive drugs. Sympathetic ophthalmia developed after perforation of the cornea along with traumatic cataract one month following the accident. It was manifested by irritation of the anterior segment of both eyes and marked exudation into the area of the posterior pole of the sympathizing eye. On the injured eye surgical reconstruction of the anterior segment was performed and concurrently broad spectrum antibiotics and corticoids were administered. On this therapy the anterior segment of both eyes began to improve, while the exudation into the area of the posterior pole of the sympathizing eye proceeded; therefore immunosuppressive therapy was started. The manifestations of sympathetic ophthalmia receded gradually. After an alternative way of corticoid reduction was started, a relapse of sympathetic ophthalmia occurred. The relapse was suppressed by a temporary increase of the dosage. Three months after the development of sympathetic ophthalmia, using the treatment described, the uveal inflammation of both eyes receded. At present, two years after the accident, both eyes are in a satisfactory condition with normal visual acuity--on the injured eye with an aphakic correction.

A retrospective clinicopathologic review of 105 cases of sympathetic ophthalmia showed histologic features of prognostic significance and evaluated the role of therapy. Classic descriptions omit retinal changes, but 58.0% of our cases had retinal detachment and 42.2% showed intraretinal inflammation. The optic nerve and/or meninges were inflamed in 51%. Optic atrophy was seen in 54.4%. Plasma cells are said to be characteristically absent, but 65.0% of steroid-treated and 85.7% of cases before the steroid era showed plasma cell infiltration. Severity of inflammation pathologically correlated with final visual outcome, and corticosteroid therapy changed both the character and severity of inflammation. Early enucleation of the exciting eye after onset of symptoms in the fellow eye was found to improve visual prognosis. Electron microscopy performed on fresh tissue and choroidal cell cultures revealed no viral particles, and viral and mycoplasma cultures all proved negative.

Sympathetic ophthalmia was given its complete clinical description by William Mackenzic in 1840, and fully described in terms of its histopathology by Ernst Fuchs in 1905. A review of epidemiologic data from the 19th and 20th centuries reveals that acceptable statistical studies have yet to be carried out, but suggests that the disease has always been of extremely low incidence. Further, there does not appear to be a markedly decreased incidence in the "modern era." The etiology of the disease remains elusive, although the pathogenesis appears to be due to delayed hypersensitivity (cell-mediated immunity), possibly directed at a surface membrane antigen that is shared by photoreceptors, retinal pigment epithelium and choroidal melanocytes. The only effective therapy remains preventive enucleation of the injured eye, despite modern usage of immunosuppressive agents. Studies have suggested that early enucleation of a blind exciting eye can improve the prognosis for the sympathizing eye.

1. During thoracic duct drainage a significant decrease of serum beta- and gammaglobulins can be found. 2. The withdrawn lymphprotein can be sufficiently substituted by human serum albumin. 3. The number of small lymphocytes decreases significantly during thoracic duct drainage, while the number of large lymphocytes and lymphoid cells increases. 4. The drainage of thoracic duct in humans is a highly immuno-suppressive procedure without major risks.

A retrospective clinicopathologic study, conducted to determine the course of disease in 30 cases of sympathetic ophthalmia with clinical follow-up of at least six months (average, 12.7 years), showed that 21 of 30 patients retained visual acuities of 20/50 or better in the sympathizing eye. The severity of inflammation graded histologically in the exciting eye did not correlate with the clinical course of final visual acuity in the sympathizing eye. Enucleation of the exciting eye within two weeks of the onset of symptoms was associated with a relatively benign clinical course (P = .008). Corticosteroid treatment in patients who underwent enucleation more than two weeks after the onset of symptoms was associated with a good visual outcome (P = .009). Early enucleation of a blind exciting eye and corticosteroid treatment appear to be important variables that influence the visual prognosis in the sympathizing eye.