OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS OF SYSTEMIC DISEASE

An eye problem may be the first manifestation of an underlying systemic disease. Since the eye is derived from the same embryonic tissues as the other organs of the body, many systemic disease are associated with ocular signs and symptoms. Young students study circulation by using a light microscope to observe blood moving in the tail of a fish. Ophthalmologists use an ophthalmoscope to see the circulation of the eye. The retina is actually part of the central nervous system and connected to the brain by the optic nerve. The ophthalmologist is able to visualize a component of the central nervous system without a MRI or CT scan. The cornea, human lens, retina, and optic nerve can be affected by medications that are ingested or injected. Periodic eye examinations can help prevent cataracts and glaucoma, and loss of sight from optic nerve or retina damage from these medications.

An eye examination may be the first sign of a disease affecting the rest of the body.  An eye examination by Dr. Eldridge led to the diagnosis of the following systemic diseases:


Acephalgic migraine
Acne rosacea

Acoustic neuroma
Adie's Syndrome
AIDS
Amiodarone optic neuropathy
Anklyosing Spondylosis
Arteriosclerosis
Benign essential tremor
Benign intracranial hypertension
Carotid artery disease
Cerebellopontine angle tumors
Cluster headaches
Complicated migraine
Cranial nerve palsy secondary to systemic cancer
Craniopharygioma
Cytomegalovirus
Diabetes mellitus
Disseminated Systemic Herpes Zoster
Fibrous dysplasia
Giant cell (temporal) arteritis
Graves' disease
Heroin Abuse
Herpes Simplex
Herpes Zoster
Horner's syndrome
Hyperlipidemia
Hyperthyroidism
Kaposi's sarcoma
Leukemia
Lung cancer
Lymphoma
Malignant hypertension
Meningioma
Migraines
Mucocystocele
Multiple sclerosis
Myesthenia gravis
Myotonic dystrophy
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Neuroblastoma
Neurofibromatosis
Normal pressure hydrocephalus
Orbital lymphoma
Paget's disease of bone
Parkinson's Disease
Pituitary adenoma
Pituitary microadenoma
Plaquenil maculopathy
Polymyalgia rheumatica
Pontine hemorrhage
Pre-eclampsia
Prostate cancer
Pseudotumor cerebri
Psoriasis
Radiation cataracts, optic neuropathy, and retinopathy
Raeder's Syndrome of the Paratrigeminal Ganglion
Reticulum cell sarcoma
Retinal migraine
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Sarcoidosis
Sickle cell disease
Sinusitis
Sjogren's syndrome
Spastic dyphonia
Steroid-induced cataracts
Steroid-induced glaucoma
Stroke
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Subclavian steal syndrome
Subdural hemorrhage
Syphilis
Systemic Candida albicans
Systemic hypertension
Systemic Lupus Erythematosis
Temporal arteritis
Tension headaches
Thalassemia
Thyroid disease
Toxemia of pregnancy
Toxoplasmosis
Transient ischemia attacks
Venous sinus thrombosis
Vertebrobasilar insufficiency
Vestibular disease