Uveitis, Anterior, Granulomatous Follow-up
- Author: Abdullah Al-Fawaz, MD, FRCS; Chief Editor: Hampton Roy Sr, MD more...
Further Outpatient Care
- Patients should be observed closely, and steroids should be tapered as the inflammation resolves. It is prudent to reexamine the patient 2-3 weeks after all medications have been tapered to ensure that no residual inflammation is present.
- Consultations with other subspecialists should be arranged, if warranted by the patient's history and laboratory workup. Consultation with a uveitis subspecialist should be considered in unusual or difficult cases, cases not responding or progressing despite appropriate maximal therapy, or cases at risk for significant visual loss.
Complications
- Recurrent episodes of iritis and subsequent therapy may lead to cataract formation and to the development of glaucoma (or secondary to medication use). Long-term hypotony due to ciliary body dysfunction (atrophy or detachment) is particularly ominous.
Prognosis
- Most patients will more than likely have a recurrence of their inflammatory process.
- The overall visual prognosis for patients with recurrent iritis is good in the absence of cataracts, glaucoma, or posterior uveitis.
Patient Education
- For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Eye and Vision Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Anatomy of the Eye and Iritis.
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