Abstract:
Background: Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare autoimmune disease that presents as a
bilateral granulomatous uveitis following a traumatic event or, less commonly, uniocular
surgery.
Purpose: To describe immunohistological and histomorphological data of a child
who developed sympathetical ophthalmia in a healthy eye after a severe penetrating
corneoscleral injury with contusion component.
Material and Methods: We present clinical observation data of a boy of 6.5 years who
developed sympathetic ophthalmia in the left eye 1.5 months after a penetrating ocular
injury caused by a tree branch resulted in a severe corneoscleral laceration in the right
eye.
Types of treatment and data of clinical, imaging (ultrasound scanning and spectraldomain
optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)), pathohistological and immunological
studies were described and reviewed.
Conclusion: A high index of clinical suspicion and careful monitoring of the state of
not only a traumatized eye, but also the fellow eye both in the early and late period
after traumatic event are vital to ensure identification of initial signs of sympathetic
inflammation (photophobia and tearing) and taking prompt adequate measures for
the prevention of further development of sympathetic inflammation. The use of current
imaging modalities (including ultrasound scanning and especially SD-OCT of the
retina and optic nerve) enables early documentation of the initial signs of sympathetic
inflammation. Further research is warranted to develop the targeted treatment methods
that would take into account the components of the immunopathogenesis
