Diagnosis and Management of Allergic Conjunctivitis

Purpose of the review: The purpose of this review is to define the classification, diagnosis, and management in adults and children with allergic conjunctivitis with emphasis on recent findings. Recent findings: Current literature divides allergic conjunctivitis according to severity and frequency, facilitating its diagnosis, study, and treatment choices. Novel pharmacological therapies aim at inhibiting inflammatory pathways at a specific molecular level and include selective glucocorticoid receptor agonists, kinase inhibitors, and IL-1 receptor antagonists. Summary: Ocular allergies are a group of heterogeneous diseases with varied immunological mechanisms and clinical presentation. Allergic conjunctivitis is an immune-mediated type I hypersensitivity disorder of the eye’s surface. Clinical presentation is characterized by bilateral ocular itching, conjunctival erythema, and ocular edema. Diagnosis is fundamentally clinical and should be supported by evidence of an IgE-mediated mechanism using skin prick tests and/or serum antigen-specific IgE. Treatment encompasses non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches. The preferred pharmacological medications are topical dual-acting agents, which have both local antihistamine and mast cell stabilizing properties. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.