National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, a program of the National Center for Advancing and Translational Sciences

Eales disease


Other Names:
Idiopathic obliterative vasculopathy; Idiopathic recurrent vitreal hemorrhage
Categories:
Eales disease is a rare vision disorder that appears as an inflammation and white haze around the outercoat of the veins in the retina. This condition is most common among young males and normally affects both eyes. In most cases, vision becomes suddenly blurred because the vitreous, the clear jelly that fills the eyeball behind the lens of the eye, seeps out. Treatment includes corticosteroids in the inflammation stage and photocoagulation in the proliferative stage of the disease.[1] Visual prognosis is good if treatment begins early in the course of the disease.[2] 
Last updated: 6/13/2011
Depending on the disease stage, treatment may involve corticosteroids (systemic or periocular) and/or immunosuppressants (azathioprine, cyclosporine).[3][4] Anti-tubercular therapy has been recommended by some authors, however this treatment remains controversial.[3] Bevacizumab (Avastin), a monoclonal antibody, is sometimes used via intravitreal injection. This medication appears to induce regression of neovascularization.[4] Laser photocoagulation has become the treatment of choice in patients in the proliferative stage of Eales disease. Vitreoretinal surgery may be required if recurrent vitreous hemorrhage occurs.[3][4]

There may be other treatment options (for example, antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E) for Eales disease as well.[4] We recommend that you discuss these and other treatment options with your partner's health-care providers.

You can find relevant articles on the treatment of Eales disease through PubMed, a searchable database of biomedical journal articles. Although not all of the articles are available for free online, most articles listed in PubMed have a summary available. To obtain the full article, contact a medical/university library or your local library for interlibrary loan. You can also order articles online through the publisher’s Web site. Using 'Eales disease AND treatment' as your search term should help you locate articles. Use the advanced search feature to narrow your search results. Click here to view a search.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Web site has a page for locating libraries in your area that can provide direct access to these journals (print or online). The Web page also describes how you can get these articles through interlibrary loan and Loansome Doc (an NLM document-ordering service). You can access this page at the following link http://nnlm.gov/members/. You can also contact the NLM toll-free at 888-346-3656 to locate libraries in your area.

Last updated: 6/13/2011

Related diseases are conditions that have similar signs and symptoms. A health care provider may consider these conditions in the table below when making a diagnosis. Please note that the table may not include all the possible conditions related to this disease.

Conditions with similar signs and symptoms from Orphanet
Differential diagnosis includes retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) sequelae, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, sarcoidosis, Behçet disease, sickle cell anemia, Terson syndrome, posttraumatic vitreous hemorrhage, juvenile diabetes and primary branch retinal vein occlusion.
Visit the Orphanet disease page for more information.

Research helps us better understand diseases and can lead to advances in diagnosis and treatment. This section provides resources to help you learn about medical research and ways to get involved.

Clinical Research Resources

  • ClinicalTrials.gov lists trials that are related to Eales disease. Click on the link to go to ClinicalTrials.gov to read descriptions of these studies.

    Please note: Studies listed on the ClinicalTrials.gov website are listed for informational purposes only; being listed does not reflect an endorsement by GARD or the NIH. We strongly recommend that you talk with a trusted healthcare provider before choosing to participate in any clinical study.

These resources provide more information about this condition or associated symptoms. The in-depth resources contain medical and scientific language that may be hard to understand. You may want to review these resources with a medical professional.

Where to Start

  • The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has a report for patients and families about this condition. NORD is a patient advocacy organization for individuals with rare diseases and the organizations that serve them.

In-Depth Information

  • Medscape Reference provides information on this topic. You may need to register to view the medical textbook, but registration is free.
  • The Monarch Initiative brings together data about this condition from humans and other species to help physicians and biomedical researchers. Monarch’s tools are designed to make it easier to compare the signs and symptoms (phenotypes) of different diseases and discover common features. This initiative is a collaboration between several academic institutions across the world and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Visit the website to explore the biology of this condition.
  • Orphanet is a European reference portal for information on rare diseases and orphan drugs. Access to this database is free of charge.
  • PubMed is a searchable database of medical literature and lists journal articles that discuss Eales disease. Click on the link to view a sample search on this topic.

Questions sent to GARD may be posted here if the information could be helpful to others. We remove all identifying information when posting a question to protect your privacy. If you do not want your question posted, please let us know. Submit a new question

  • My partner has been diagnosed with Eales disease. How might this condition be treated? See answer


  1. Eales Disease. National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). 2007; http://www.rarediseases.org/rare-disease-information/rare-diseases/byID/859/viewAbstract. Accessed 6/13/2011.
  2. Das T, Pathengay A, Hussain N, Biswas J. Eye (Lond). 2010; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20075970. Accessed 6/13/2011.
  3. Eales disease. Orphanet. 2003; http://www.orpha.net/consor/cgi-bin/OC_Exp.php?lng=EN&Expert=40923. Accessed 6/13/2011.
  4. Roth DB. Eales Disease. eMedicine. 2010; http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1225636-overview. Accessed 6/13/2011.