Early Ocular Manifestations of Korean Hemorrhagic Fever

Korean hemorrhagic fever is an acute febrile illness which causes hemorrhagic necrosis of multiple internal organs. Some ocular symptoms are described by physicians without ophthalmic examination. The authors evaluated early ocular manifestations in 21 patients (42 eyes) with Korean hemorrhagic fever, who were admitted from Oct. to Nov. in 1984. The results are summarized as follows: 1. In eleven patients (22 eyes, 52.4%), visual disturbances caused by transitory myopia were observed. 2. During the period of transitory myopic change, the intraocular pressure in the group of refractive change was significantly raised compared to that in the group of non-refractive change. 3. In the group of refractive change, increasing intraocular pressure and a shallowing of the anterior chamber were observed accompanied by transitory myopic change. 4. During the early phase of the illness, lid edema, chemosis, conjunctival injection, subconjunctival hemorrhage, and macular edema were observed.