Ocular Manifestations Associated with Alopecia Areata

Background: Refractive errors and other ocular diseases are main causes of stress which may affect alopecia areata, so diagnosis and treatment of RE and ocular diseases in patients with alopecia areata is important for prognosis of alopecia areata.Objective: To detect the presence of refractive errors and other ocular changes in patients with alopecia areata and effect of correction of refractive error and treatment of ocular diseases if found on prognosis of alopecia areata.Patients and Methods: Sixty patients suffering from alopecia areata were included. Patients had full ophthalmic examination including RE, anterior segment, posterior segment, and examination for dry eye by schirmer test and TBUT test. They were followed up after six months of correction of RE and having medical treatment for alopecia.Results: The study showed that 66.7% of included patients had error of refraction, 50% had lens abnormalities (23.3% punctate lens opacities, 20% posterior subcapsular cataract and 6.7% cortical cataract), 36.7% had posterior segment abnormalities (21.7% tigroid retina, 10% peripapillary atrophy and 5% macular RPE alteration), 60% had dry eyes, 35% had madrosis, 20% had partial lash loss. Regrowth of hair occurred in 80% of patients.Conclusion: The current study showed that the most prevalent error of refraction was hypermetropia followed by Astigmatism then myopia. The commonest ocular findings were dry eye followed by lens abnormalities (punctate lens opacities, posterior subcapsular cataract and cortical cataract) and Posterior segment abnormalities (tegroid retina, peripapillary atrophy and macular RPE alteration).