Uveitis in childhood

Abstract

The authors reviewed the etiologic factors and complications of 219 consecutive patients (339 eyes) younger than 16 years of age who presented with uveitis to a tertiary eye care center in Turkey. Of the 219 patients, 112 (51.1%) were girls with a mean age of 7.4 ± 4.2 years, and 107 (48.9%) were boys, with a mean age of 8.3 ± 3.4 years. Overall, the etiology of uveitis was classified as idiopathic (24.2%), toxoplasmosis (21.0%), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (13.2%), pars planitis (11.9%), Behcet's disease (11.0%), Fuchs' iridocyclitis (4.1%), Toxocariasis (3.2%), HSV iridocyclitis (2.7%), CMV retinitis (1.8%), ankylosing spondylitis (1.8%), tuberculosis (1.4%), traumatic (0.9%), sarcoidosis (0.9%), sympathetic ophthalmia (0.5%), Vogt-Kayanagi-Harada syndrome (0.5%), Reiter's syndrome (0.5%), and psoriatic arthritis (0.5%). Anatomically, anterior uveitis was the most common presentation (43.4%), followed by posterior uveitis (31.1%), panuveitis (13.7%), and intermediate uveitis (11.9%). Bilateral involvement was most commonly encountered with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, pars planitis, and Behcet's disease. One or more significant complications occurred in 173 (51%) eyes. The most common complications were cataract (28.9%), maculopathy (17.4%), band keratopathy (10.9%), and glaucoma (8.3%). One or more surgical procedures were performed on 71 (20.9%) eyes, most of which were attributable to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, pars planitis, or Behcet's disease. The most common surgical interventions were cataract extraction with or without vitrectomy (15.3%), EDTA chelation (3.5%), peripheral cryotherapy (3.2%), and filtration surgery (1.8%).—Michael D. Wagoner