The natural course of an iridoschisis: A case report

Abstract

Background

Iridoschisis is a rare ophthalmological disorder that presents with the separation of the anterior fibers of the iris from the posterior ones at the level of the stromal layer. Fibers resulting from the disintegration of the anterior iris layers can be encountered in the anterior chamber of the affected eyes. This condition mostly affects females and has been associated with both open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma. The pathogenesis has not been clarified yet, and the treatment is still a matter of discussion.

Objective

We want to contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis and natural course of the disease as well as to document with multimodal imaging a new case of this very rare disease.

Case report

We present a case of a 71-year-old woman affected by iridoschisis in both eyes followed by 3 consecutive visits every 4 months. We performed an extensive ophthalmologic examination, including gonioscopy, endothelial cell microscopy, and optical coherence tomography of the anterior segment.

Conclusion

In our report, we documented a possible natural course of iridoschisis, characterized by an acute worsening followed by a phase of stability, and formulated some hypotheses on the pathogenesis of this rare disease.