Still's disease with Floaters and Flashes

 

 

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 12/29/2018 - 12:36
Country
United States
Age
52
Gender
Male
Did you perform any surgery for the eyes?
No
Do you suffer from pre-existing illnesses in the eye?
No
Do you suffer from any diseases in the body?

Still's Disease and Vasculitis

Do you use any eye drops?

Systane Eye Drops

Do you wear Contact lenses or Eyeglasses?

Eyeglasses and occasionally contact Lenses, however not in the last 6 months

Question

 

 

Hi,

About 3 weeks ago very suddenly began seeing small black dots, only one or two randomly. About an hour later,  I began seeing flashes of light, first toward the bottom of my eye, around my lower eyelid.  My vision was clear and when I was not moving a great deal I did not see this.

I went to my optometrist who performed a full exam, dilation, vision field ect. She said my eyes were very dry, not surprising since I have a couple of autoimmune issues.  She said to use over the counter drops four times a day.

I went for a second opinion with an ophthalmologist approx. 2 weeks later as I was still have problems and it seemed like dry eyes might not cause this type of issue.

Both said they did not see any tears,  and I did ask about vasculitis, they said the blood vessels seemed fine.

 

 

Background - I had a serious ear infection about 3 weeks before it started.  I also had some mild pain on the out side of my eye and some reminded me of shingles pain I had on that nerve several years ago (had once then a recurrance about 2 years later) . I have adult onset stills disease and vasculitis.

My blood test showed super high inflammation, very low vitamin d and slight anemia. I was started back on low dose prednisone until other meds can kick in.   Since then the flashes and floaters seem to be reducing quite a bit. 

Any thoughts - I really like my doctors but I don't feel like I walked away with an explanation.   I don't feel ill or have too many problems with my health situations often - hardly at all,  but when I do it is always something a little strange.  

Answer

Thanks for your Question

 

 

Ocular Manifestation in patients with Adult Onset Still's disease is unommon. It can be be manifested as conjunctivitis or red eye, dry eyes and intraocular inflammation. Symptoms of intraocular inflammation are reduced vision and/or eye floaters with flashes of lights.

You complain of eye floaters and flashes of light which can be Still's related uveitis or just a normal vitreous changes and vitreous syneresis.

I would recommend to visit an ophthalmologist with ocular immunology and uveitis subspeciality who can run some tests for your eyes such as fluorescein angiograpgy which can show even mild form of retinal vasculitis that is caused by Still's disease.