Immunological investigations in post-traumatic granulomatous and non-granulomatous uveitis.

Histopathological and immunological investigations have been performed in 16 cases of post-traumatic granulomatous (10) and non-granulomatous uveitis (6). Most cases of sympathetic ophthalmitis showed evidence of cell mediated immunity to uveoretinal antigens, though it was not possible to make a definitive diagnosis on immunological grounds alone. Three patients with post-traumatic non-granulomatous uveitis showed a positive immunological response to ocular antigens, and 2 of these later developed clinical evidence of sympathetic ophthalmitis, which suggests that post-traumatic non-granulomatous uveitis in such cases may represent a presympathetic (i.e., incipient) or modified stage of the disease.