Sympathetic ophthalmia associated with high frequency deafness
- Department of Ophthalmology, Clinic 3
- Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
- M Comer
- Accepted 19 September 2000
Editor,—Sympathetic ophthalmia with deafness has been reported rarely.12 We describe one such case and explore a hypothesis whereby genetic susceptibility may be associated with cross reactivity of antigens derived from common neural crest tissue.
CASE REPORT
A 72 year old woman who had previously undergone a left trabeculectomy had a fall in which she sustained a Colles fracture and a left total hyphaema. By 14 days the blood had cleared sufficiently to reveal that she had expelled the entire left iris into the trabeculectomy bleb, with extensive dispersion of uveal pigment into the subconjunctival space. She was also found to have dislocated the lens, and had sustained a choroidal detachment (confirmed by ultrasonography). A non-granulomatous anterior uveitis was noted in the left eye at this time. The initial visual acuity was light perception in the left eye and 6/12 in the right eye.
On the 25th day after the original injury, she experienced pain and blurring of vision in her right eye, with the simultaneous onset of …
