Allergic eye disease

#### What you need to know Allergic eye diseases include conjunctivitis and occasionally keratitis in response to an allergen. The diseases affect 10%-20% of people globally12 and have a negative impact on quality of life and productivity.3456 Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is essential to reduce the frequency of relapses, to avoid complications that are potentially sight threatening, and to enhance patient self care. This article provides guidance on recognising the different forms of allergic eye disease and on their management. Children and adolescents are more commonly affected by atopic disease in general, which tends to diminish with age. People with asthma, eczema, and rhinitis often experience concurrent ocular allergy.7 Europe, North America, and Japan report higher prevalence than developing countries.1 ### How do they present? Itching is the hallmark of allergic eye disease, which is accompanied by redness and watering of the eyes (fig 1⇓). Symptoms may occur in acute episodes which are generally recurrent or may be persistent in a chronic form. Fig 1  Seasonal allergic conjunctivitis presenting acutely, with conjunctival redness and swelling (chemosis). Note that the cornea is clear, with no signs of keratitis ### What are the different types of allergic eye disease? Table 1⇓ summarises the different types. View this table: Table 1 Clinical presentation and features of allergic eye disease subtypes ### Common allergic eye diseases Seasonal and perennial allergic conjunctivitis are the commonest forms of allergic eye disease and are associated with childhood atopy. Seasonal conjunctivitis is triggered by pollen and frequently occurs in spring and summer. It is often associated with nasal symptoms (rhinoconjunctivitis). Perennial …