Do not lose sight—non-JIA related uveitis

Abstract

Uveitis is a well-known complication of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. What is less known are the other causes of non-infectious uveitis in children and the visual outcomes of patients who develop these forms of uveitis. The study published in this volume of The Journal by Sardar et al describes the causes and outcomes of non-juvenile idiopathic arthritis-related uveitis in 56 patients from the south side of Paris, an urban population with many immigrants from North and sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. The 3 major subtypes of uveitis they found were idiopathic (55%) with no systemic disease, Behçet disease (15%), and sarcoidosis (5%). Regardless of the etiology the majority of patients had severe posterior- or panuveitis. Many patients, even at presentation, had eye complications. Nearly 15% developed vision loss. Furthermore, most patients did not respond to the traditional therapy of topical and systemic corticosteroids or disease modifying medications such as methotrexate or azathioprine. Only a minority of the patients who received biologic modifiers, particularly anti-tumor necrosis factor antibodies, had a good response to therapy, although many of these patients had already developed complications. Thus, it is imperative to recognize these less common forms of uveitis and to treat these patients early with aggressive therapy, particularly biologic modifiers. Indeed, the positive results of a controlled study of adalimumab, a humanized anti-tumor necrosis factor antibody were recently published for adult patients with many of the types of uveitis described in this report. Article page 131 ▶ Retrospective Study Evaluating Treatment Decisions and Outcomes of Childhood Uveitis Not Associated with Juvenile Idiopathic ArthritisThe Journal of PediatricsVol. 186PreviewTo evaluate treatment, ocular complications and outcomes of children with pediatric uveitis not associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Full-Text PDF