Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis

[Flivoless]

Went to see my Consultant Ophthalmologist today (great chap who sorted my floaters, which were the size of icebergs, a couple of years ago and said that I would need cataracts sorted sooner or later so elected to do them at the same time as the floaters and all on the NHS – perfect) as I have some discomfort in my left eye. Not really painful but very irritating. After an assortment of drops and much probing with various lights and lenses he announced that he was pretty sure, but not totally sure, that I had a very mild case of Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis (also known as Theodore’s SLK) which is an uncommon eye disorder that is characterized by repeated episodes (over many years) of inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva (outer most membrane of the eyelid, in contact with the eyeball). The exact cause of Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis is unknown (where have we heard that before?). The only reason I’m mentioning this on here is because It is thought that the body’s autoimmune response could be a reason for SLK. I have prescribed Hycoscan eye drops every hour and Sodium Chloride 5% eye ointment (stupidly expensive for what it is) at night. If these don’t work after a couple of weeks, there is, wait for it, a steroid treatment that will, apparently.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Oh joy!!!! But at least someone has named it

[winfong]

Ugh! Another weird disease. And another one to throw the steroids at. Good luck!

Curious how your doc is getting rid of your floaters. Mine are terrible too.

[Sophiestree in reply to winfong]

I am curious about that as well. My optician said there was nothing to be done for floaters.Mine are bang in the middle of my eye...

😐

[Flivoless in reply to winfong]

An op called vitrectomy. It's invasive and not very pleasant but the results are worth it. Some floaters can be "disintegrated" by Laser.

[pata63 in reply to Flivoless]

My wife has an ongoing problems after a cataract op gone wrong 4 years ago. Her right eye was done first and went well. No troubles. 👍The left eye? Not so good. 😜She has had a couple of vitrectomies on her L eye since then. When her IOL dislodged back towards her retina they had to remove it by chopping it into pieces. That was the second vitrectomy. The first one was because of a pressure spike which came on two days after the initial op. A few weeks ago the replacement IOL dislodged just as we went into Level 4 lockdown. This time the IOL dislodged forwards and was getting caught up on her iris. For now we are using a drug to keep her iris closed down so it doesn't happen again. And with that I'll just go and administer her next Pilocarpine drop...

[Sophiestree]

Clever man to get that diagnosis. I know it all sounds horrid, but at least you have a name to it. Hope you find the drops and ointment work for you. Eyes are always scary!

[pugrescue]

What a fancy name...SLK. I developed severe dry eye a yr before GCA dx, oddly enough at the time I was having a biopsy for Sjogrens.....SLK is quite in Sjogrens, a group of autoimmune disease that affect glands such as salivary and eyes among other things.

My eyes resolved somewhat on high dose prednisone, and the inflammation decreased. However that was in 2019. I tapered off pred in Nov 2020. Since then eyes have returned to where i was before GCA> I have been on restasis (cyclosporin) for 4 yrs now. That is not a steroid but it is an anti-inflammatory. I use systane night ointment which is not expensive, but the only solution to waking up and eyes being so tender I cannot blink or stand any light at all.

The Hycoscan eyedrops are just a lubricant that is preservative free, so you can take them frequently without irritation.

Anther thing that is coincidental about autoimmune diseases, is that they frequently appear in groups. I now have Vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that removes the pigmentation from your skin At the rate I am going, I will look like an albino in a yr or two. One temporary help with vitiligo is a cream called Tacrolimus....MIGHT slow down the process.

Interestingly, SLK is very common in pugs. We rescue pugs, mostly seniors. In them it is referred to as PK...pigmentary keratitis. The prescribed medicines for their PK, is cyclosporin drops or Tacrolimus.