Specialty ophthalmology ICD-9-CM 362.18 eMedicine article/1225636 | ICD-10 H35.0 DiseasesDB 4028 | |
Eales disease is a type of obliterative vasculopathy, also known as angiopathia retinae juvenilis, periphlebitis retinae, primary perivasculitis of the retina, is an ocular disease characterized by inflammation and possible blockage of retinal blood vessels, abnormal growth of new blood vessels (neovascularization), and recurrent retinal and vitreal hemorrhages. Eales' disease with a characteristic clinical picture, fluorescein angiographic finding, and natural course and is considered a specific disease entity.
Contents
Pathology
It is characterized by three overlapping stages of venous inflammation (vasculitis), occlusion, and retinal neovascularization.
Clinical course
Patients are often asymptomatic in the initial stages of retinal perivasculitis. Some patients may develop symptoms such as floaters, blurring vision, or even gross diminution of vision due to massive vitreous hemorrhage. Vision in these patients can be normal to hand movements or light perception only. Bilaterality is quite common (50–90%) patients.
History
The condition was first described in young adult men by Henry Eales (1852–1913), an English Ophthalmologist in 1880. Although men have been reported to have an increased prevalence of Eales disease, one study reported that men and women are affected equally.
Epidemiology
Eales disease most commonly affects healthy young adults. Male predominance (up to 97.6%) has been reported in a majority of the series. The predominant age of onset of symptoms is between 20 and 30 years. The disease is now seen more commonly in the Indian subcontinent.
Aetiology
The cause of this condition is not known. However, in a significant number of patients, DNA of the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected by PCR.