Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom, and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about anterior uveitis.

And if you want to follow along with written notes on this topic, you can follow along at

0.com slash anterior uveitis or in the ophthalmology section of the zero definals medicine book.

So let's get straight into it.

Anterior uveitis is inflammation in the anterior part of the uvea.

And the uvea involves the iris, the ciliary body, and the corroid.

The coroid is the layer between the retina and the sclera all the way around the eye.

Sometimes anterior uveitis is referred to as iretis.

anterior uveitis involves inflammation and immune cells in the anterior chamber of the eye.

The anterior chamber of the eye becomes infiltrated by neutrophils, leucocytes and macrophages.

And this is usually caused by an autoimmune process, but it can be due to infection, trauma, ischemia or malignancy.

Inflammatory cells in the anterior chamber cause floaters in the patient's vision,

which is like little marks that float in and out amongst their vision.

Anterior uveitis can be acute or chronic.

Chronic anterior uveitis is more granulomatous,

which means it's got more macrophages,

and it has a less severe and a longer duration of symptoms

and lasts more than three months.

There's a few associations to be aware of with anterior uveitis,

particularly the HLAB27 related conditions.

And these are autoimmune rheumatology conditions like ankylosing spondylitis,

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