Ophthalmology in China. Endogenous uveitis in a Chinese ophthalmological clinic.

Abstract

In contrast to the large amount of literature concerning the types, incidence, and clinical description of uveitis in the West, Japan, and various areas of Africa, there is little such information available concerning uveitis in China. Previous clinical work at Hunan Medical College, Changsha, China, revealed that various types of uveitis were frequently seen, but because no specific clinical service for uveitis existed, there were no standardized uveitis records, no consistent terminology, no rational plan of therapy, and no attempt to establish an etiologic diagnosis. In May 1983, a Uveitis Service was established at Hunan Medical College in the Department of Ophthalmology of the Second Affiliated Hospital. A specific clinical study protocol was instituted, and separate patient records were kept. An article concerning the recognition, management, and complications of uveitis was published in Chinese 1 and widely disseminated. Ophthalmologists were encouraged to refer interesting and difficult uveitis cases to the Uveitis