The anterior segment of the eye includes the ocular surface (cornea, conjunctiva, lacrimal gland, and tear film), anterior uvea (iris and ciliary body), and lens. Several ocular and systemic autoimmune diseases involve structures of the anterior segment of the eye causing conjunctivitis, keratitis, tear film dysfunction, eyelid disorders and uveitis. They represent some of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and manage in ophthalmology and often require a multidisciplinary approach. Recently, the increasing understanding of the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammatory reaction and the development of novel drugs such as biological agents make it useful to update diagnostic protocols and the current therapeutic approaches.

Ocular autoimmune diseases include ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, Mooren’s corneal ulcer , graft versus host disease, and some forms of uveitis, including Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, diabetes, and sympathetic ophthalmia.

Several systemic autoimmune diseases show involvement of the anterior segment of the eye including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Graves’ disease, Sjogren syndrome, Behcet’s disease, sarcoidosis, and ankylosing spondylitis.

We invite investigators to submit original research and review articles that will contribute to the knowledge of autoimmune diseases and ocular surface and uvea inflammatory reaction.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Epidemiology and clinical manifestations of autoimmune ocular diseases
• Biomarkers of autoimmune ocular diseases
• Diagnosis and grading of autoimmune ocular disorders including in vivo confocal microscopy, ocular surface impression cytology, and tear film function evaluation
• Quality of life in autoimmune ocular diseases
• Current medical and surgical treatments for autoimmune ocular diseases (including steroids, immunosuppressive drugs, biological agents, and amniotic membrane transplantation)