Welcome to Review of Optometry's Practice Pearl of the Week series. Optometrist Paul Karpecki will provide you invaluable clinical information and management strategies for a host of ocular conditions—from dry eye and corneal infection to retinal artery occlusion and neuro-ophthalmic disease.

Ocular signs of several dermatological diseases can manifest before a systemic diagnosis is confirmed. One such systemic disease is rosacea. So, if you see a patient with symptoms of dry eye, lid disease, telangiectasia of the lower eyelid and a chronic red eye, consider a diagnosis of rosacea. Keep in mind, nearly 25% of rosacea cases begin with ocular signs, such as chronic conjunctivitis.¹

Another condition that occasionally manifests ocular signs before the dermatological eruption is herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO). Therefore, if a patient arrives in your office complaining of a unilateral red eye, significant iritis, and a headache or tenderness on one side of the scalp, consider a diagnosis of HZO and be sure to rule out giant cell arteritis (GCA).

For information on how to become one of the sponsors of Practice Pearls, please contact Review's publisher Rick Bay (rbay@jobson.com) or sales managers James Henne (jhenne@jobson.com), Michele Barrett (mbarrett@jobson.com), or Kimberly McCarthy (kmccarthy@jobson.com) for more details and pricing.