Conjunctival congestion in SUNCT syndrome

Abstract

The purpose of this observational-retrospective study was to assess which type of conjunctival injection and related phenomena are present during SUNCT attacks. We studied the videorecords of 23 SUNCT attacks in three patients. Conjunctival injection was found to mostly involve vessels of the palpebral territory stemming from both superior and inferior palpebral vessels that supply the tarsal conjunctiva and most of the ocular (bulbar) conjunctiva. Episcleral injection was also observed. During attacks, the appearance of the conjunctiva suggested conjunctival edema or chemosis. Furthermore, the presence of edema below the capsule of Tenon was strongly suspected. During SUNCT attacks, there was a dramatic conjunctival congestion of the eye on the symptomatic side that tended to extend to the rest of the external tunica of the eye.