Abstract
Purpose: :
Whether ocular symptoms predict the presence of inflammatory ocular diseases in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is unknown.
Methods: :
All consecutive IBD patients seen in the Department of Gastroenterology (Nancy, University Hospital, France) between April 2009 and July 2011 were interviewed for this study using a pre-established questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed by the Departments of Gastroenterology and Ophthalmology. If the patient had at least one ocular symptom, he/she systematically underwent an ophthalmologic examination (visual acuity, Break-Up Time test, Schirmer test, slit-lamp exam with fundus examination).
Results: :
This cross-sectional survey was completed by 306 patients: 169 were women (55.2%), 228 had Crohn’s disease (74.5%), 77 ulcerative colitis (25.2%) and 1 microscopic colitis (0.3%). Ninety-eight patients (32.02%) reported at least one ocular symptom: ocular irritation (56.8%), red eye (40.5%), blurred vision (37.8%), ocular pain (31.1%), progressive visual loss (34.4%), myodesopsia (23.3%), eyelid secretion (12.2%), dry eye (9.5%), watering (6.8%), diplopia (5.4%), metamorphopsia (4%), sudden visual loss (4%). Following ophthalmologic examination 41.9% patients had evidence of dry eye, 14.9% blepharitis and 1.4% scleritis. No uveitis was reported.
Conclusions: :
Ocular manifestations are frequent in IBD patients, but are very seldom associated with ocular inflammation. Systematic interviewing of IBD patients for ocular symptoms cannot be recommended in clinical practice.
Keywords: inflammation • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence