The potential of tear proteomics for diagnosis and management of orbital inflammatory disorders including Graves' ophthalmopathy.

BACKGROUND: Orbital compartments harbor a variety of tissues that can be independently targeted in a plethora of disorders resulting in sight-threatening risks. Orbital inflammatory disorders (OID) including Graves' ophthalmopathy, sarcoidosis, IgG4 disease, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and nonspecific orbital inflammation constitute an important cause of pain, diplopia and vision loss. Physical examination, laboratory tests, imaging, and even biopsy are not always adequate to classify orbital inflammation which is frequently deemed "nonspecific". Tear sampling and testing provide a potential "window" to the orbital disease process through a non-invasive technique that allows longitudinal sampling as the disease evolves. Using PubMed/Medline, we identified potentially relevant articles on tear proteomics published in the English language between 1988 and 2021. Of 303 citations obtained, 225 contained empirical data on tear proteins, including 33 publications on inflammatory conditions, 15 in glaucoma, 15 in thyroid eye disease, 1 in sarcoidosis (75) and 2 in uveitis (77,78). Review articles were used to identify an additional 56 relevant articles through citation search. In this review, we provide a short introduction to the potential use of tears as a diagnostic fluid and tool to investigate the mechanism of ocular diseases. A general review of previous tear proteomics studies is also provided, with a focus on Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO), and a discussion of unmet needs in the diagnosis and treatment of orbital inflammatory disease (OID). The review concludes by pointing out current limitations of mass spectrometric analysis of tear proteins and summarizes future needs in the field.

Spectrum of orbital disease in South India: an aravind study of 6328 consecutive patients.

AIM: To review the incidence of orbital diseases in South India and to compare with other case series published. METHODS: Retrospective review of 6328 consecutive patients with orbital disease evaluated at Aravind Eye Hospital between January 1997 and December 2008. The main outcome measure was incidence of orbital disease in South Indian population, as determined by clinical and histopathologic criteria. A literature review was conducted to compare the results of this study with those of previously published reports. RESULTS: Of the 6328 patients, 2161 (34.1%) had inflammatory orbital disease, 1965 (31.0%) had systemic conditions involving the orbit, 1277 (20.1%) had neoplasm, 600 (9.4%) had congenital lesions, 308 (4.8%) had trauma, and 17 (0.2%) had vascular disease. Of the 2161 patients presenting with inflammatory disease, 1473 (68.1%) had idiopathic orbital inflammation, 270 (12.5%) had infection, 126 (5.8%) had dacryoadenitis, and 292 (13.5%) had other etiologies. Among the 1965 patients presenting with systemic disease involving the orbit, 1938 (98.6%) were diagnosed with thyroid orbitopathy, 22 (1.1%) with amyloidosis, and 5 (0.2%) with sarcoidosis. Of the 1277 patients with neoplasm, the tumor was vascular in 369 (28.8%), neural in 336 (26.3%), lymphoid or leukemic in 131 (10.2%), secondary neoplasm in 82 (6.4%), epithelial in 68 (5.3%), adipose in 53 (4.1%), metastatic in 39 (3.0%), and fibrous, fibro-osseous, striated muscle, histiocytic, and other cellular origin in 40 (3.1%), 37 (2.8%), 23 (1.8%), 21 (1.6%), and 78 (6.1%), respectively. Of the 600 patients with congenital lesions, 427 (71.1%) had dermoid and 170 (28.3%) had dermolipoma, followed by meningoencephalocele. CONCLUSIONS: The most common causes of orbital disease in South India are inflammatory (34.1%) and systemic conditions (31.0%). With the exception of higher incidence of inflammatory etiologies, these data are largely consistent with prior published reports.

Histopathological study of ocular erythema nodosum leprosum and post-therapeutic scleral perforation: a case report.

Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae , clinically present either as tuberculoid, borderline or lepromatous type. Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) is an acute humoral response in the chronic course of lepromatous leprosy. Although very severe ENL reactions are known in systemic leprosy, such severity is rare in ocular tissues. A leprosy uveitis patient suffered from a severe form of post-therapeutic ENL reaction which resulted in perforation of the globe at the site of preexisting subconjunctival leproma. Painful blind eye was enucleated. Histopathological study revealed infiltration of numerous polymorphs and macrophages packed with acid-fast bacilli in the conjunctiva, cornea, ciliary body, ora serrata and sclera. A profuse influx of neutrophils on a background of macrophages packed with M. leprae confirmed the ocular ENL reaction. This case is reported to alert the ophthalmologists to a rare ocular complication of ENL.