A recent retrospective study carried out in an ophthalmology clinic in north Karnataka has noted that anterior uveitis of noninfectious etiology is more frequent in general/comprehensive ophthalmology practice. The research group, Charushila et al., has also reported spondyloarthropathy as the most common cause of anterior uveitis; whereas the most common infectious etiology was posterior uveitis. The most common etiology noted in the study region was tuberculosis.
The researchers evaluated the case records of 119 patients with uveitis admitted between June 2015 and December 2019. A specific diagnosis was established in nearly 64% of cases with the majority of unilateral cases diagnosed as anterior uveitis. Spondyloarthropathy had been identified as the most common noninfectious etiology causing anterior uveitis (19.3%) and posterior uveitis as the predominant infective etiology (12.9%).
Uveitis is a life‑threatening condition causing nearly 5%–10% of the visual impairments worldwide. The diagnosis of uveitis is a major challenge for clinicians owing to the presence of diverse ocular/ systemic signs and symptoms. A large number of cases remain idiopathic and pattern changes in uveitis due to multiple factors such as geographic, genetic predisposition, ethnicity, environment, and demographic, also impair the correct diagnosis. The present study findings highlight conducting extensive systemic workup and HLA-B27 typing in routine ophthalmology practice.
Reference: Gajapati CV, Shetty AB, Pooja KV. The pattern of uveitis in general Ophthalmology practice. J Clin Ophthalmol Res 2022;10:9-14.