Clinical management algorithm of uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: interdisciplinary panel consensus

Abstract

Uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) typically involves the anterior chamber segment, follows an indolent chronic course, and presents a high rate of uveitic complications and a worse outcome as compared to other aetiologies of uveitis. Disease assessment, treatment, and outcome measures have not been standardized. Collaboration between pediatric rheumatologists and ophthalmologists is critical for effective management and prevention of morbidity, impaired vision, and irreparable visual loss. Although the Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature Working Group recommendations have been a great advance to help clinicians to improve consistency in grading and reporting data, difficulties arise at the time of deciding the best treatment approach in the individual patient in routine daily practice. For this reason, recommendations for a systematized control and treatment strategies according to clinical characteristics and disease severity in children with JIA-related uveitis were developed by a panel of experts with special interest in uveitis associated with JIA. A clinical management algorithm organized in a stepwise regimen is here presented.