Summary

Fuchs heterochromic uveitis (FHU) in its classic presentation is a unilateral, chronic, low grade, often asymptomatic anterior uveitis. It is characterized by a classic triad of iris heterochromia, cataract and keratic precipitates. Neovascularization of the iris and the anterior chamber (AC) angle (radial and circumferential) occurs in 6–22% of cases. This angle and iris new vessels can sometimes lead to a characteristic filiform haemorrhage and formation of hyphaema after AC paracentesis and is a hallmark of FHU known as Amsler–Verrey sign. This haemorrhage has been previously associated with trivial trauma, mydriasis, applanation tonometry, gonioscopy, or it may occur spontaneously. In the setting of cataract surgery it has been previously reported with the use of a Honan balloon. We report a case of cataract and FHU where the Amsler–Verrey sign developed intraoperatively during a phacoemulsification procedure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented report of this sign occurring intraoperatively during cataract surgery.