Retinal and choroidal manifestations of gastrointestinal diseases

This chapter describes some of the gastrointestinal diseases that have ocular manifestations, especially in the retina and choroid. They include inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Whipple’s disease, pancreatitis, avitaminosis A, familial adenomatous polyposis, and zinc and copper deficiency. Their etiologies are diverse: IBD is thought to arise from an alteration in the immune response, Whipple’s disease is caused by the bacteria Tropheryma whipplei, pancreatitis causes a vaso-occlusive retinopathy possibly arising from fibrin aggregates, and familial adenomatous polyposis is a genetic disorder. It is important to keep these diseases in mind, as they require specific treatments and in some cases may be the initial manifestation of a potentially fatal disease.