Rosacea - the ophthalmic perspective.

CONTEXT: Rosacea is a chronic cutaneous inflammatory disorder with variable presentations. Although primarily considered a skin disease, rosacea may involve the eyes in a significant number of patients leading to ocular complications. It has been recognized that many patients of ocular rosacea in dermatological outpatient department (OPD) go unnoticed as the physicians don't ask about eye symptoms. Same holds true in ophthalmic OPD's where the doctors usually don't consider this diagnosis. The diagnosis of ocular rosacea primarily relies on observation of ophthalmic clinical features but it can be easily missed if accompanying cutaneous features are subtle or inconsistent. The subject diagnosis if not diagnosed and treated promptly, may cause varying degrees of ocular morbidity and may impair vision secondary to corneal involvement.

OBJECTIVE: To review published literature and provide an overview on different pathophysiologic mechanisms of ocular rosacea and clinical features required for its diagnosis. As well as to highlight various treatment modalities available for ocular rosacea.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our study Medline and Google Scholar were the key search engines to find literature using keywords like epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, management and complications of ocular rosacea.