Photoelectrica keratoconjunctivitis
| Classification according to ICD-10 | |
|---|---|
| H16.1 | Other superficial keratitis without conjunctivitis |
| H16.2 | Keratoconjunctivitis |
| T26.4 | Burns of the eye and its appendages, part unspecified |
| ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019) | |
The Photokeratitis , keratitis photoelectrica , Photokeratitis , welder aperture or verblitzung , is an injury to the cornea of the eye caused by strong UV-exposure is caused. Common causes are welding without shielding (e.g. welding mask ), quartz lamp irradiation or light radiation in high mountains.
The damage mechanism corresponds to that of sunburn . Damage to the actively dividing cells of the epithelium by the radiation leads, after a characteristic latency period of around eight hours, to the death of the affected cells, resulting in an inflammatory reaction in the surrounding tissue. On the cornea of the eye, there are fine-spotted defects ( superficial punctate keratitis ) in the upper layer, which typically cause severe pain, eyelid cramps , lacrimation and reduced visual acuity .
Symptoms usually appear in the early hours of the morning because of the latency period. Due to the regenerative capacity of the corneal epithelium, healing can usually be expected after 24–48 hours. Therapy is limited to pain-relieving measures (eye ointment, pain pills). Local anesthetics are only used for diagnostics.
See also
literature
- Theodor Axenfeld (founder), Hans Pau (ed.): Textbook and atlas of ophthalmology. With the collaboration of Rudolf Sachsenweger and others 12th, completely revised edition. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart et al. 1980, ISBN 3-437-00255-4 .
