The Iris

The iris is a circular, pigmented membrane that provides the eye its color and the opening in the center is the pupil. It is made up of muscular fibers that control the amount of light entering the pupil so that you can see clearly by making the pupil smaller in bright light and larger in dim light. However, it is a largely neglected part of the eye, compared to the cornea lens, retina, and optic nerve, and has not been focused on in a comprehensive way until now. The Iris: Understanding the Essentials combines different aspects of scientific information from a variety of fields, such as histopathology, molecular biology, pharmacology, and diagnostic modalities. Each chapter will include pearls and summary points at the end, and this multi-disciplinary approach helps the clinician diagnose and treat the large variety of diseases that affect the iris, such as ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter syndrome, sarcoidosis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, Lyme disease, tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, syphilis, and herpes simplex. Written for practicing ophthalmologists, primary care, and emergency room physicians, this book summarizes the information in an easy-to-use manner to help the reader better understand the iris, its structure, physiology, and function.