الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Systemic autoimmune and inflammatory chronic diseases cause periods of activity and periods of remission. Disease flares may appear suddenly without warning. The consequences of an unexpected flare can be severe or even lethal. Despite meliorated diagnostic methods and modern treatments, anticipating oncoming flares remain a challenge. Subclinical inflammation often heralds flares. The vascular system is frequently affected, because of either inflammation of the vessels (vasculitis) or an increased atherothrombotic change. The high vascular component of the choroid makes this layer susceptible to inflammation in multisystemic diseases. Choroid is the most vascularized layer of the eye and one of the most highly vascularized tissues in the human body. Over the last decades, choroidal thickness and retinal thickness have been proposed and evaluated as potential inflammatory markers for inflammatory diseases, especially for those with a vascular component. Interestingly, choroid and retina may be involved not only in the diseases with specific ocular involvement, but also in conditions without direct eye injury. Among all the different exploration techniques, the spectral-domain optical coherence tomography seems to be the most promising noninvasive method to evaluate inflammation. So, the aim of this study was conducted to evaluate the role of choroid thickness and retinal thickness as potentially inflammatory markers in systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. To elucidate our aim, a case control study was conducted on 80 eyes of 40 patients with systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases who were attended to the outpatient ophthalmology clinic, faculty of medicine, Menoufia University, in a period time from May 2021 to September 2022. Subjects included in this study were divided int to two groups: group A (patients): included 80 eyes of 40 patients with systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, group B (control): included 40 eyes of 20 healthy subjects matched age and sex. All patients were subjected to the following: Patients were asked about age, medical history, surgical history, previous trauma and last time they used contact lens if they are contact lens wearer. A thorough ophthalmic examination was determined including: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), Anterior segment biomicroscope, Intraocular pressure measurement (IOP), Dilated fundus examination for all subjects, Optical coherence tomography (OCT), Choroidal thicknesses and Peripapillary RNFL thickness. Systemic evaluation was performed included Blood sugar, Complete blood count, Liver function tests, Kidney function tests. |