Retinal Vascular Occlusion
What it is: Small blood vessels that feed the retina, or light sensing layer of the eye, become blocked or backed up, akin to what happens during a heart attack or stroke.
What you may notice: Vision loss, like a curtain coming over the eye. If an artery is blocked, loss of vision may happen suddenly and come and go. If a vein is backed up, vision loss may be more gradual.
Seen with: Lupus, scleroderma, Behçet’s disease, sarcoidosis, polyarteritis nodosa and primary CNS angiitis
What you can do: If an artery has been blocked, damage may be permanent and there is currently no known treatment to restore vision. If a vein is backed up, laser surgery may help reduce swelling and restore vision.
Glaucoma
What it is: A condition in which fluid pressure in the eye rises slowly, causing damage to the optic nerve
What you may notice: Eye pain, vision that’s blurry or has blank spots, rainbow-colored halos around lights. In its early stages, glaucoma has no symptoms.
Seen with: Glaucoma can be a side effect of corticosteroid therapy for arthritis.
What you can do: The best way to prevent glaucoma related to corticosteroid therapy is to work with your doctors to minimize corticosteroid use, taking the lowest doses for the shortest time to produce desired results.
Regular eye exams can identify the problem early and improve prognosis.
Treatment for glaucoma involves local preparations and beta-blocker eye drops to reduce pressure in eye. If those aren’t successful, surgery can be used to increase the flow of aqueus fluid from the eye and lower pressure.
