title: Ocular manifestations in herpes zoster ophthalmicus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ocular complications of herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) may lead to substantial visual disability, severe post-herpetic neuralgia and rarely fatal cerebral complications.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify the pattern of ocular manifestation in herpes zoster ophthalmicus.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional descriptive study was under taken including the clinically diagnosed cases of HZO. All of them underwent a complete ophthalmological evaluation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-eight cases of HZO were examined, of which 37 (54.4 %) were male and 31 (45.6%) female. The mean age was 48.7 ± 18.5 years. Most of the patients (64.7 %) were above the age of 40 years. 77.94 % of the patients had some form of ocular involvement. Pain (77.9 %) was the commonest ocular complaint. In young patients less than 35 years, HIV was the most common risk factor (19.3 %).Visual status was good in the majority (73.5 %) of patients at presentation. Lid and adnexal findings (45.8 %) were most common ocular involvement followed by conjunctivitis (41.1 %). Corneal complication was seen in 38.2 % of cases, uveitis in 19.1 % and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) and secondary glaucoma each in 5.8 %.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Eyelid and ocular adnexal involvement is most commonly found in patients with herpes zoster ophthalmicus followed by corneal complication and uveitis. There needs to be awareness of ocular involvement, which can be sight threatening, among the HZO patients and other medical departments and an increased emphasis on regular ophthalmic examination.
authors.affiliation: Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital, Lahan, Nepal. drlila_raj@yahoo.com
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Puri
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thakur
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D003236:Conjunctivitis, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D006563:Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016849:Keratitis, Herpetic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051474:Neuralgia, Postherpetic / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014605:Uveitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D014792:Visual Acuity