A disturbing link has been found between a devastating eye condition and tattoos.
Some 40 Australians with tattoos have recently reported suffering tattoo-associated uveitis, an inflammation of the middle layer of the eye which can result in pain and blurred vision. Severe cases can result in permanent vision loss.
Nelize Pretorius initially thought she was suffering from a bad case of conjunctivitis when she began noticing the symptoms of uveitis.
However, she and her doctor were forced to look for other answers when her conjunctivitis test returned a negative result.
'I could hardly see. I was losing my vision and nobody was able to tell me why,' Ms Pretorius told the ABC earlier this month.
Only after more tests did she learn it was her years-old tattoo that had caused her vision issues.
'You get a tattoo, and you think the risk is that you might regret it later in life - you could potentially lose your vision,' she said.
Tattoo-associated uveitis is believed to be caused by a delayed hypersensitivity to tattoo pigments.
Nelize Pretorius (above) suffered from tattoo-associated uveitis
Tattoo-associated uveitis is believed to be caused by a delayed hypersensitivity to tattoo ink
Cases can occur from six months to several years after a patient gets a tattoo and may only surface after they experience a 'trigger event'.
These can include laser tattoo removal, which forces the ink into the bloodstream.
Symptoms of uveitis include blurred vision, light sensitivity, pain and decreased vision.
Ophthalmologist Josephine Richards, who treated Ms Pretorius, said experts 'do not know why the eye gets caught in the crossfire' of the delayed reaction.
'There is something about the immune reaction that targets the eye. I only became aware of it about four or five years ago,' she said.
'Then I had all these patients all of a sudden.'
Ms Pretorius was one of the first patients Dr Richards treated for tattoo-associated uveitis in Perth.
'It's just lucky that she knew about it because if she wasn't there on that day, I may still not know what the issue is,' Ms Pretorius said.
Ms Pretorius (above) thought she was suffering conjunctivitis before she was diagnosed as one of Perth's few tattoo-associated uveitis patients
A total of 40 new cases of tattoo-associated uveitis have been recorded in Australia, the Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology journal reported.
That figure is double the amount recorded across the globe in 2010.
Research into what causes the body to react poorly to tattoos is still underway, though there has been indication that black ink causes the most inflammation.
It's followed by pink and red tattoo ink, which have one case each.
