Ocular manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus

The purpose of this study is to determine the ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus and its correlation with the disease activity. Fifty-two lupus patients and 20 healthy controls were included in this study. All patients have undergone complete rheumatological, neurological, and ophthalmic examination including visual acuity, slit-lamp examination of the anterior segment, and dry eye evaluation using Rose Bengal stain and Schirmer test. Fundus examination and fundus photography were done to the suspected cases. Eighteen patients (34.6%) had ocular lesion, from which only 13 (25%) patients were symptomatic. Keratoconjunctivitis was the most common ocular lesion. There was a highly statistically significant difference between patients and controls as regarding all ocular lesions (***P > 0.0001). There was good correlation between disease activity index and presence of ocular lesion. Ocular manifestations are common in SLE patients. Lupus retinopathy may reflect systemic, particularly CNS, vascular damage.