Keratitis

What is it?

Inflammation of cornea caused by infection, trauma, dry eyes, ultraviolet exposure, contact lens overwear, or degeneration
Undertreated keratitis often leads to scarring or perforation with loss of sight

How does it appear?

Blurred vision
Foreign body sensation
Eye pain
Hazy or broken-up corneal light reflection
Engorgement of conjunctival vessels adjacent to corneal limbus ("ciliary flush")
Staining of corneal surface with fluorescein dye
Gray-white corneal opacification
Herpes simplex keratitis often causes tree-branch ("dendritic") shaped erosion

What else looks like it?

Corneal trauma
Contact lens overwear

What to do?

Refer emergently to ophthalmologist

What will happen?

Herpes simplex keratitis treated with oral anti-viral medications (acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir)
Other causes require varying types of treatment
If treatment fails to prevent persistent inflammation of subsurface layers, scarring will permanently damage sight
Corneal perforation can lead to endophthalmitis and eventual need to remove eye ("enucleation")