title: The effect of clinical severity and eyelid rash on ocular involvement in primary varicella infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe ocular manifestations in primary varicella infection and their relationship to systemic severity and the associated eyelid rash.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred consecutive children with primary varicella were examined prospectively. The cases were classified as mild, moderate, and severe according to the severity of clinical presentation. Excluding the presence of eyelid rash, children with ocular findings were assigned to group 1 (G1), and those without ocular findings were assigned to group 2 (G2). Patients in G1 were also evaluated according to the nature of ocular manifestations and the course of uveitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one percent of patients had ocular involvement (G1) and 79% had no ocular involvement (G2). While chickenpox had a mild course in 85.7% of patients in G1 and 88.6% of patients in G2, all others had a moderate course. None of the children had a severe course. A varicella eyelid rash was present in 28.6% of patients in G1 and 13.9% in G2. Among ocular findings, 38.1% of patients had conjunctivitis, 57.1% had anterior uveitis, and 4.8% had disciform keratouveitis. There was no significant association between severity of chickenpox and severity of ocular involvement (p=0.712). There was also no relationship between eyelid rash and ocular involvement (p=0.787).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is neither an association between the severity of chickenpox and the severity of ocular involvement nor an association between the presence of a varicella eyelid rash and the development of uveitis. As the prognosis regarding sequelae of ocular involvement in varicella infection is good, only those patients with ocular signs and symptoms need be referred by pediatricians for an ophthalmologic examination.
authors.affiliation: Department of 1st Eye Clinic, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ministry of Health, Ankara - Turkey.
authors.forename: Gulten
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sungur
authors.forename: Dicle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hazirolan
authors.forename: Serkan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duran
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Satana
authors.forename: Inci
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arikan
authors.forename: Sunay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003236:Conjunctivitis, Viral / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications; D005076:Exanthema / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D015828:Eye Infections, Viral / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014606:Uveitis, Anterior / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications