Pattern of uveitis in a referral eye clinic in north India

Abstract

Purpose: To report the pattern of uveitis in a north Indian tertiary eye center.

Methods: A retrospective study was done to identify the pattern of uveitis in a uveitis clinic population of a major referral center in north India from January 1996 to June 2001. A standard clinical protocol, the "naming and meshing" approach with tailored laboratory investigations, was used for the final diagnosis.

Results: 1233 patients were included in the study; 641 (51.98%) were males and 592 (48.01%) females ranging in age from 1.5 to 75 years. The anterior uveitis was seen in 607 patients (49.23%) followed by posterior uveitis (247 patients, 20.23 %), intermediate uveitis (198 patients, 16.06%) and panuveitis (181 patients, 14.68%). A specific diagnosis could be established in 602 patients (48.82%). The infective aetiology was seen in 179 patients, of which tuberculosis was the commonest cause in 125 patients followed by toxoplasmosis (21 patients, 11.7%). Non-infectious aetiology was seen in 423 patients, of which ankylosing spondylitis was the commonest cause in 80 patients followed by sepigionous choroidopathy (62 patients, 14.65%).

Conclusion: Tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis were the commonest form of infective uveitis, while ankylosing spondylitis and serpiginous choroidopathy were commonly seen as the non-infective causes of uveitis in North India.