Allergic conjunctivitis : review article

Allergic conjunctivitis is an extremely common condition, occurring in up to 50% of individuals reporting allergic symptoms. Although most of the different forms of the condition have many symptoms in common it is important to be able to distinguish them from one another as this may have important prognostic and management implications. This review first discusses the common symptom complex and then divides the allergic conjunctivitides into acute and chronic forms. The acute forms descriptionbed are seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) and perennial allergic conjunctivitis (PAC), while the chronic conditions detailed are atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC) and vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC). Giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC) and contact allergic conjunctivitis (CAC), although not pure examples of allergic conjunctivitis have many features in common with the group, and are therefore also descriptionbed. The review focuses primarily on the clinical presentation of the conditions, but a brief overview of the pathophysiology and an approach to the management of each condition is also provided.