Epidemiology of Uveitis in a Tertiary Eye Center in Myanmar

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the characteristics of uveitis in a tertiary eye center in Myanmar.

Methods: A retrospective study was undertaken to obtain the characteristics of uveitis in a tertiary eye center in Myanmar from September 2013 to September 2014, using a standard clinical protocol and tailored laboratory investigations.

Results: A total of 139 patients were included in this epidemiologic study; 71 (51.1%) men and 68 (48.9%) women. The mean age of onset was 36.3 ± 15.5 years. Infectious uveitis constituted 76/139 (54.7%) cases and non-infectious etiologies accounted for 63/139 (45.3%) cases. The most common non-infectious etiologies were idiopathic, followed by HLA-B27-associated anterior uveitis and multifocal choroiditis with panuveitis, while tuberculosis was the most common infectious etiology.

Conclusions: Tuberculosis was the most frequent cause of uveitis among the infectious group of patients in this tertiary eye center as a result of endemic disease in Myanmar.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Myanmar; idiopathic; tuberculosis; uveitis.