Ophthalmologic manifestations of systemic vasculitis.

Objective: To review the systemic vasculitides and associated ocular manifestations with emphasis on publications within the last 12 months.

Results: There are multiple case reports demonstrating atypical ocular manifestations of systemic vasculitis. Often the eye findings are the initial presentation of the disorder and require a high degree of clinical suspicion to evaluate further as these conditions can compromise vision but some may also be life threatening.

Conclusions: The systemic vasculitides are a heterogenous group of rare disorders with inflammation of blood vessels as a common feature. This review will provide a synopsis of the diseases with associated ocular manifestations. The implication for clinicians is to highlight recent case reports/series demonstrating the pathology.