Sympathetic ophthalmia. A long-term follow-up
T. A. Makley Jr and A. Azar
Seventeen cases of sympathetic ophthalmia have been followed up for as long
as 23 years (average 10.6 years). Sixty-five percent of those patients
treated with corticosteroids retained a visual acuity of 20/60 or better.
Complications were frequent and included secondary glaucoma, cataract,
exudative retinal detachment, and choroidal scarring. Uneventful cataract
extraction was difficult to manage, requiring frequent changes in the
steroid dosage, and in one patient two glaucoma procedures. The duration of
steroid therapy was quite variable and ranged from a few months to six
years or longer. Relapses were common and several occurred many years after
the initial episode had resolved. If the histopathologic picture were
moderate or severe, the clinical course most often would be difficult and
protracted.