Question:easy
Which of the following is a prerequisite for sympathetic ophthalmitis?
Which of the following is a prerequisite for sympathetic ophthalmitis?
Show Hint
The fellow eye is harmed only after the globe of the first eye is breached open.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Penetrating injury to the eye
- Blunt ocular trauma
- Chemical injury
- Urinary tract infection
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Mnemonic-led recall. Think of sympathetic ophthalmia as one eye sympathising with the suffering of the other. For the healthy eye to start sympathising, the first eye must have been opened up so that uveal antigens, normally hidden from immune patrol, leak out and prime a granulomatous autoimmune response.
That opening up means a penetrating or perforating injury, classically a pencil, stick or pen that punctures the globe, or intraocular surgery. This is the prerequisite the question is testing.
Run the distractors: blunt trauma bruises but does not perforate; chemical injury damages the surface, not the uveal tissue; a urinary tract infection has nothing to do with the eye. Only a penetrating injury satisfies the antigen-exposure mechanism. So option A stands. Clinical takeaway: any perforating ocular wound carries a small but real risk of sympathetic ophthalmia in the other eye. Ref: MSD Manuals, Sympathetic Ophthalmia.
That opening up means a penetrating or perforating injury, classically a pencil, stick or pen that punctures the globe, or intraocular surgery. This is the prerequisite the question is testing.
Run the distractors: blunt trauma bruises but does not perforate; chemical injury damages the surface, not the uveal tissue; a urinary tract infection has nothing to do with the eye. Only a penetrating injury satisfies the antigen-exposure mechanism. So option A stands. Clinical takeaway: any perforating ocular wound carries a small but real risk of sympathetic ophthalmia in the other eye. Ref: MSD Manuals, Sympathetic Ophthalmia.
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