Endogenous uveitis: experiences in Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital.
BACKGROUND
The distribution of uveitis varies in different parts of the world, which is attributed to geographic, alimentary or genetic factors. Epidemiological studies in uveitis may be extremely important in an effort to better understand the etiology of the disease and the classification of its subtypes. The purpose of this study was to determine the profile and characteristics of endogenous uveitis in southern Taiwan.


METHODS
Retrospective chart review ofthe patients diagnosed and treated as endogenous uveitis in Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital from January 1991 to December 2000 was performed. Demographic data, past history, ophthalmic examination and other laboratory tests were recorded and analyzed.


RESULTS
One-hundred and sixty patients were collected, including 93 (58.1%) males and 67 (41.9%) female, with average age of 41.1 +/- 17.1 years (range 16-77), and mean follow-up period of 13.7 months. The diagnoses included 46 (28.8%) cases of acute anterior nongranulomatous uveitis (AAU), 26 (16.3%) cases of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease, 18 (11.3%) cases of intermediate uveitis, 14 (8.8%) cases of Behcet's disease, 26 (16.3%) cases of infectious origin, 7 (4.4%) cases of other diagnoses, and 23 (14.4%) undefined cases. Final visual acuity equal to or better than 0.5 was obtained in 78.2% of eyes of AAU, 65.4% of eyes of VKH disease, 48.1% of eyes of Behcet's disease, and 66.7% of eyes of intermediate uveitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Acute anterior nongranulomatous uveitis was the most common endogenous uveitis, while VKH was the most common panuveitis in this series. As infectious origin contributes a significant proportion of endogenous uveitis, infectious etiology should be considered in any type of uveitis that responds poorly to conventional treatment.
Department of Ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC.
Li-Chen
LC
Chou
Shwu-Jiuan
SJ
Sheu
May-Ching
MC
Hong
Ya-Chuan
YC
Hsiao
Tsung-Tien
TT
Wu
Chiu-Tung
CT
Chuang
Jane-Fang
JF
Chen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014605:Uveitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity
D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen