Ophthalmologists are daily confronted with intraocular inflammation following trauma and/or intraocular surgery. In rare cases, this may lead to the loss of visual function in both eyes, i.e. sympathetic ophthalmia (SO). In order to reduce the scope of responsible action between enucleation of the exciting eye (EE), which still has good vision, and progressive inflammation of the second eye (SE) resulting in blindness if action is delayed, a score system was established based on all SO symptoms which had become known from the literature and personal communications up the end of 1988. The score system developed by HANNE et al. allows causal differentiation between SO or uveitis of other genesis in the partner eye taking into account the prior history and findings in the EE and the occurrence of symptoms after the last accident/operation and findings in the SE.
If the last eye is involved, the presence of SO should be assumed in every case where there are signs of intraocular inflammation in order to allow immediate commencement of anti-inflammatory therapy, the more so since it is known that corticosteroids and cytostatics (this also applies to cyclosporin A) can only arrest the immunopathologic processes in the initial phase of the disease.