Ophthalmological manifestations of systemic disease

At a glance

• The fundus is the one place you can see small vessels directly. Diabetes and hypertension are the systemic diseases physicians most often meet there.
• Inflammatory diseases have typical patterns: RA gives dry eye and scleritis, spondyloarthritis gives acute anterior uveitis, IBD gives episcleritis and uveitis, SLE gives dry eye and cotton wool spots.
• Drugs matter as much as diseases: corticosteroids (cataract, glaucoma), hydroxychloroquine (retinopathy, screening revised by the AAO in 2025), ethambutol and amiodarone (optic neuropathy).