Abstract: As a common symptom, photophobia is usually refereed to ocular surface diseases. In fact, it is also manifested in ocular fundus diseases, neuropathy and a certain of systemic disorders. This review re-illuminates in detail the history, definition, etiology of photophobia, especially pays attention to the up-to-date pathogenesis of photophobia resulted from various diseases and the neural circuits. If a patient complains photophobia without evident causes, retinopathies and optic neuropathies should be considered, especially when vision decrease is associated. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2023, 32: 454-461)

Key words: photophobia, eye pain, retinopathy, optic neuropathy