Inflammation of the eye is often times seen in association with systemic inflammatory diseases. Understanding the various forms of ocular involvement in these conditions is important as untreated ophthalmic involvement can lead to severe vision loss. In addition to providing a basic framework for diagnosis and treatment, this review will highlight the ocular manifestations of the following systemic inflammatory conditions: rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Wegener's granulomatosis, Sjögren's syndrome, polyarteritisnodosa, primary antiphospholipid syndrome, Behçet's syndrome, Kawasaki disease, Cogan's syndrome and relapsing polychondritis.