Intermediate Uveitis
Uveitis is a term used to describe a variety of inflammations inside the eye. There are many different forms of uveitis, but even so, uveitis is not a common problem.
Intermediate Uveitis is one form accounting for approximately 5% of uveitis types. It often first comes to notice in teenage or young adult years but can be in any age including children. Many patients may have had it for many years before seeing the Ophthalmologist.
Inflammation affecting the front of the eye usually causes it to be red and painful. If affecting the back of the eye it often causes visual loss. Intermediate uveitis affects a band around the inside of the eye between the front and back parts. It does not usually cause pain and redness and often does not cause blurred vision. Mostly both eyes are affected with one eye being worse than the other.
Intermediate uveitis causes clumps of cells to appear in the vitreous (clear jelly of the inside of the eye). These may be described as ‘floaters', ‘spiders' or ‘tadpoles' which are black spots of all shapes and sizes floating around in the vision. They are more obvious if you ‘looks for them', on bright days or against a white background such as a wall or book.
Anterior uveitis:
Some eyes become inflamed at the front of the eye (anterior uveitis). In this case the eyes may become red and sore, and bright lights may cause discomfort. This will need to be treated with steroid/anti-inflammation eye drops, and some patients will need these long-term in order to control the inflammation.
Cataract:
Many different forms of uveitis, particularly those that go on for long periods of time, can lead to a cataract and an operation may be needed to remove it.
Macular Oedema:
The macular is the part of the back of the eye that is used for seeing fine detail such as reading. In Intermediate uveitis the macula may become ‘waterlogged' - this is referred to as macular oedema.
Floaters:
Sometimes, especially in young people, the black floaters become so dense that they actually begin to obstruct vision.
Glaucoma:
Any type of uveitis can cause the pressure inside the eye to be too high which can damage vision (glaucoma).
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