Epidemiology of uveitis in the mid-Atlantic United States

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the demographic, anatomic, and diagnostic classification of patients with uveitis seen in a tertiary care center in central Virginia. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of patient demographics, disease characteristics, and disease severity-related outcomes (therapies, visual outcomes, and complications) from 1984 to 2014. RESULTS: There were 491 patients (644 eyes) with mean age of 46 years (±21.4 years) and mean duration of follow up of 4.8 years (±6.8 years). Of these, 278 patients were female (56.6%). Further, 60.5% were Caucasian, and 27.3% were African American. The anatomic types seen were anterior uveitis (67.3%), panuveitis (14.5%), posterior uveitis (12.6%), and intermediate uveitis (5.3%). The most common etiology was post-traumatic (12.2%), followed by post-procedural (10.0%), herpetic (7.9%), human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27-associated (6.7%), and sarcoidosis (6.7%). Herpetic uveitis was more common among Caucasians than African Americans (sex-adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 7.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] [2.12, 50.00]), and sarcoidosis was more common among African Americans than Caucasians (sex-adjusted OR: 6.54, 95% CI [2.98, 15.29]). Herpetic anterior uveitis was more common among females than males (race-adjusted OR: 3.03, 95% CI [1.32, 7.71]). Multifocal choroiditis was more common among males than females (race-adjusted OR: 9.09, 95% CI [1.47, 100.00]). Mean logMAR visual acuity was 0.18 at initial and final visit. A total 388 (79%) and 133 (27.3%) patients received local and systemic steroids, respectively. A total 52 patients (10.6%) received an antimetabolite. A total 116 patients (23.7%) were managed with topical glaucoma medication. A total 43 (8.8%), 129 (26.4%), and 46 patients (9.4%) underwent glaucoma surgery, cataract surgery, and vitrectomy, respectively. CONCLUSION: Over the period of this study, Caucasian patients were more frequently seen than non-Caucasians, although African Americans constituted a considerable size of study population. The most common diagnoses were undifferentiated anterior uveitis, traumatic uveitis, post-procedural uveitis, herpetic disease, HLA-B27 associated uveitis, and sarcoidosis. Unlike previous reports, traumatic and post-procedural uveitis were frequently reported. Mean visual acuity remained stable from initial to final visit.