From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Hypopyon

Medical condition with inflammatory cells inside the front of the eye

Summary

Medical condition with inflammatory cells inside the front of the eye

Field	Value
name	Hypopyon
image	Hypopyon 1.jpg
caption	Slit lamp view of hypopyon

| Hypopyon is a medical condition involving inflammatory cells in the anterior chamber of the eye.

It is an exudate rich in white blood cells, seen in the anterior chamber, usually accompanied by redness of the conjunctiva and the underlying episclera. It is a sign of inflammation of the anterior uvea and iris, i.e. iritis, which is a form of anterior uveitis. The exudate settles at the dependent aspect of the eye due to gravity. It can be sterile (in bacterial corneal ulcer) or not sterile (fungal corneal ulcer).

Presentation

Cause

Diagnosis

Differential diagnosis

Hypopyon can be present in a corneal ulcer. It can occur as a result of Behçet's disease, endophthalmitis, panuveitis/panophthalmitis, or adverse reactions to some drugs (such as rifabutin).

Hypopyon is also known as sterile pus because it occurs due to the release of toxins and not by the actual invasion of pathogens. The toxins secreted by the pathogens mediate the outpouring of leukocytes that settle in the anterior chamber of the eye.

An inverse hypopyon is different from a standard hypopyon. Inverse hypopyon is seen after a pars plana vitrectomy with an insertion of silicone oil (as a replacement of the vitreous humour that has been removed in the operation; the silicone oil maintains internal tamponade). When the silicone oil emulsifies, it seeps into the anterior chamber and settles at the top of the anterior chamber. This is in contrast to hypopyon resulting from toxins where the leukocytes settle at the bottom of the anterior chamber. This is due to the effect of gravity, hence the name inverse hypopyon.

Treatment

A hypopyon should not be drained, because it offers protection against the invading pathogen due to the presence of white blood cells, although long-standing hypopyon can cause close-angle glaucoma and anterior synechiae.

Intravitreal antibiotics can be used if endophthalmitis is suspected.

References

(2010). "Ocular Inflammatory Disease and Uveitis: Diagnosis and Treatment". Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
"Narrow-Angle Glaucoma".
(18 October 2016). "Peripheral Anterior Synechia Treatment & Management: Medical Care, Surgical Care, Consultations".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

eye-diseases

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Hypopyon — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report