Eczema – Ocular Manifestations

Although Eczema is mainly a disease of the skin, some atopic patients experience problems with their eyes related to this skin disease and I occasionally encounter these ocular manifestations in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Eczema predisposes patients to the development of cataracts.  The cataracts can either be either anterior or posterior subcapsular and the incidence is directly proportional to the severity of the Eczema.  Another ocular problem seen in atopic patients is the development of keratoconus.  Keratoconus occurs when the structure of the cornea breaks down so the normal curvature becomes more conical (like a cone).  This causes severe visual problems and fortunately occurs in less than 1% of patients with Eczema.