Distribution of uveitis in a Belgian university referral center for ocular inflammation

Abstract

Abstract Purpose : To study the clinical characteristics of patients with uveitis seen in our center. Methods We have retrospectively analysed the charts of 567 patients with uveitis seen in the department of ophthalmology of the CHU St‐Pierre in Bruxelles, Belgium, between January 2004 and December 2008. Each patient was classified according to the clinical presentation, anatomic localization and results from the systemic work‐up. Results Anterior uveitis was most frequent (61.9%) followed by panuveitis (21.7%), posterior uveitis (11.3%) and intermediate uveitis (5.11%). Anterior uveitis were non granulomatous in 59,8%, granulomatous in 29,1% and associated with keratitis in 11,1% of the cases. HLA‐B27 with or without seronegative SPA uveitis were the most frequent forms of anterior uveitis followed by herpes (including one third demonstrated by PCR). Intermediate uveitis were most often idiopathic or due to Fuchs uveitis syndrome. Behcet disease, followed by toxoplasmosis was the most frequent cause of posterior uveitis. Toxoplasmosis and sarcoïdosis were the most frequent causes of panuveitis. Conclusion The distribution of the different forms of uveitis is relatively closed to other published studies for the referral tertiary center. Our high percentage of final diagnosis is in accordance with the more recent series. It might reflect a better definition of certain clinical entities and the development of new diagnostic tools.