Ocular tuberculosis is a challenge in ophthalmic practice responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is a resurgent disease in the developed world. The term ocular tuberculosis indicates any infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in, on, or around the eye. The disease tends to affect the ocular anterior segment, the posterior segment and adnexa. The purpose of this review is to describe the ocular manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis and to emphasize the fact that ocular tuberculosis may occur in the absence of systemic clinical activity and may mimic several clinical entities. The current review focuses on the diagnostic modalities, various clinical features, and treatments for management of intraocular tuberculosis recommended in recent publications. Physicians and ophthalmologists must include TB among the differential diagnoses of patients with ocular inflammatory diseases and treat ocular TB with a combination of anti-TB and immunosuppressive medications as needed. Immunosuppressive medications applied in this setting must be cautioned and only prescribed by ophthalmologists who are familiar with these agents.
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