I read in the general information for liver disease from my hepatologist that patients with liver disease need to get the eyes examined, including the retina. I was at my eye doctor’s office for dry eye the other day, when I asked him for a retina exam, he said he wasn’t a specialist in the retina and referred me to a retina specialist. I see an optometrist every year, but it never occurred to me to see another specialist to get the retina examined until now.
I have had hepatitis B since childhood, and now I am in my 60s. This is the first time I learned that hepatitis B can cause damage to the eyes. Naturally I am concerned. I am near-sighted and have chronic dry eye. Other than that, my eyes seem to be O.K.
What effects does hepatitis B virus have on the eyes?
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I’ve never heard of ocular effects from HBV. Perhaps some of the clinicians know more about this. However, good eye care is always important, regardless of other health issues. Retina specialists are normally accessed through referral from a primary eye care professional rather than having to go find one yourself, so you appear to be following the normal process. They can do some really powerful things if you end up needing an intervention–its worked great for a member of my family.
I hope all is well with both your eyes and liver.
John.
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Thank you, Dr. Tavis. You were absolutely right about getting the intervention needed in a timely manner.
TM
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hello,
I’ve always felt that my weak and fatigued eyes had to do with being chronic hbv. My vision became pretty bad when I hit my early 50’s but I don’t think it’s just the aging only. It would be nice if I can find a correlation between liver disease and eye sight.
thank you!