Clinical Features of Japanese Patients with Ocular Inflammation and Their Surgical Procedures Over the Course of 20 Years

PURPOSE: To review clinical characteristics of ocular inflammation patients in Osaka, Japan, over 20 years and investigate the efficacy of required surgeries. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study involving 2730 eyes of 1815 patients with ocular inflammation examined at the Osaka Medical College Hospital from April 1999 to March 2019. RESULTS: Patients comprised 843 males and 972 females, with a mean age of 56.3 ± 18.5 years. Anterior uveitis, such as scleritis, acute anterior uveitis, and herpes iritis, was the most common anatomical classification (51.2%), followed by panuveitis (37.2%), posterior uveitis (9.4%), and intermediate uveitis (2.2%). Sarcoidosis occurred in 153 patients (8.4%), Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) in 83 (4.6%), and Behçet’s disease in 68 (3.7%). Sarcoidosis peaked in two age groups: 30s and 50–70s. Of the 1815 patients, 389 eyes of 271 patients (14.9%) had cataract surgery, 162 eyes of 133 (7.3%) had vitrectomy, and 124 eyes of 103 (5.7%) had glaucoma surgery. Among cataract surgery patients, 49 (18.1%) had sarcoidosis, 14 (5.2%) had VKH, and seven (2.6%) had Behçet’s disease, and visual acuity (VA) was improved in 321 eyes (82.5%). Among vitrectomy patients, 15 (11.3%) had acute retinal necrosis, 14 (10.5%) had sarcoidosis, 12 (9.0%) had fungal endophthalmitis, and 11 (8.3%) had malignant lymphoma (ML); 83 eyes (51.2%) needed vitrectomy due to vitreous opacity, and VA improved in 88 eyes (54.3%). Among glaucoma surgery patients, 13 (12.6%) had sarcoidosis, and nine (8.7%) had Posner-Schlossman syndrome. CONCLUSION: Anterior uveitis was the commonest form of uveitis and sarcoidosis was the commonest underlying disease. The age distribution of sarcoidosis was older than in previous reports. 10% of patients with sarcoidosis needed glaucoma surgery, and vitrectomy was required in 50% for vitreous opacity caused by ML or sarcoidosis.