OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDERS: A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Background and Objectives: Connective tissue disorders (CTD) includes a group of chronic inflammatory conditions that affects multiple systems of the body and presents wide spectrum of clinical manifestations including eye. This study was undertaken to study the types of ophthalmic manifestation in connective tissue disorders. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 50 cases was done in patients diagnosed with various connective tissue disorder in tertiary care hospital, from June 2022 to May 2023.All patients underwent a standard and comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation. Result: Out of 50 cases, 12 were males and 38 were females. Maximum number of cases (35) were seen between the age group of 40-61years. Rheumatoid Arthritis (25) was the most common connective tissue disorder. Both anterior and posterior segment findings were seen in our study with Dry eye as the most common ocular manifestation which was seen in 28 patients. Conclusion: Connective tissue disorderscomprise wide spectrum of diseases that can present with ocular involvement. It is important to do screening of ocular manifestations in patients with connective tissue disorder for early detection and treatment for better prognosis.