Red eyes in renal failure

Abstract

Of 57 patients with chronic renal failure who all had deposition of calcium salts in the conjunctival and corneal tissue two developed a brief episode of painful irritation and redness of the conjunctiva and subconjunctiva. This hyperaemia was adjacent to erosions of the corneal epithelium of the eye as a consequence of exfoliation of calcium concretions from the superficial corneal epithelium. Eight patients showed inflammatory reactions of the conjunctivae that were clinically identical to inflamed pingueculae. Three patients showed an inflammatory reaction of the eye that was characterised by a waxy red, more or less diffuse, episcleral and conjunctival hyperaemia extending beyond the palpebral fissure. The average value of the serum calcium concentration in these patients was particularly high and statistically significantly higher than in patients with calcification but without inflammatory signs and also higher than in patients who showed pingueculitis. We propose to reserve the term 'red eye of renal failure' for the latter group of patients.