[Recent details of the frequency and immunologic reactivity of sympathetic ophthalmia (author's transl)].

When giving details of the frequency of Sympathetic Ophthalmia a clear distinction must be made between this disorder and the Phacogenic Ophthalmia also affecting the second eye. The latter is found with lens damage, whereas genuine Sympathetic Ophthalmia in relation to enucleation, eye damage and eye opening surgery at Heidelberg University between 1937 and 1973 is less than 1%, a figure markedly below figures quoted in the earlier literature. In two out of three patients with recent genuine Sympathetic Ophthalmia we found an augmented stimulation index in the LTT with retina antigen, not choroid antigen, as compared to control groups. This can be regarded as due to an individually augmented immunologic reactivity towards eye specific tissue antigens.