Dr.Surabhi Beniwal, S21529
Introduction:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease,associated with extra-articular manifestations.Dry eye is frequently associated with RA .Drugs used for it’s treatment may cause macular toxicity.
Aim:To study incidence of ocular manifestations in patients with RA and associated macular toxicity from routine drug therapy. Methods:1 year prospective clinical study of 50 RA patients.Ocular examination included best corrected visual acuity, color vision,slit lamp and fundus examination and tests for dry eyes.Erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hsCRP) were used as disease activity markers.
Results:Dry eye was diagnosed in more than half of the patients of RA,which was of mild to moderate type and a linear correlation with the disease activity was noted.Macula was found to be uneffected in most of the cases.
Conclusion:Strong association between RA and dry eye was established.No significant macular toxicity was found.
Leave a Comment