Background: Ocular complications are one of the well-recognized extra-articular complications of rheumatoid arthritis [RA]. The most common ocular complications of RA are Keratoconjunctivitis sicca, episcleritis, scleritis, marginal thinning of the cornea with keratolysis, stromal corneal opacities with peripheral vascularization, and iridocyclitis. The ocular complications were found to be significantly higher in patients with long duration of RA.
Aim of the work: This study was conducted to determine the common ocular complications that occur with RA and to determine the correlation of this complications with age, gender, duration, and activity of RA.
Patients and methods: Tow hundred eyes of one hundred patients [males and females] with symptomatic evidence of RA were studied. All patients subjected to full clinical evaluation, laboratory assessment, plain X-ray hand and detailed ocular examination [visual acuity, slit lamp, fundus examination and Schirmer's test].
Results: Our research showed that 47.0% of the studied cases were aged from 41 to 60 years old, 93.0% of them were females, 57.0 % of them had RA more than 2 years [longstanding RA] and 40.0 % of them had ocular complications. The most common eye complications among the studied cases were dry eye, episcleritis, and scleritis [28.5 %, 4.0 %, and 3.0 % respectively].
Conclusion: RA patients have a higher risk of ocular complications. Eye examination should be included as a routin for RA patients to facilitate early diagnosis and management of ocular complications.