Although its etiology is quite complex, the pathogenic cause of most iridocyclitis cases is endogenous besides some external factors like trauma, operation, infection and so on. It is reported that, in recent years, the morbidity of HLA - B27 in the acute cases of iridocyclitis has reached 60%. From the clinical manifestations, the disease should pertain in traditional Chinese medicine to "Tongshen Jinxiao"(stenocoriasis) or to"Tongshen Ganque" (miosis).

The exopathic cause of the disease is due to the invasion of pathogenic wind, heat and dampness, and the endopathic cause is concerned with constitional yang excess and yin deficiency of the liver and kidney. The pathogenesis is mainly related with the fact that the pupil is fumigatedly injured by pathogenic heat, causing the expansion of iris without contraction and the contracted pupil.  If the case is protracted for a long time, the condition of excessive heart fire and failure of the kidney will appear, indicating the intermingled syndrome of asthenia and sthenia.