Causes of uveitis in a referral hospital in Ankara, Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the etiology of uveitis and its associated systemic findings in a referral hospital in Ankara, Turkey.


METHODS
Clinical records of patients in our uveitis department were reviewed retrospectively and 419 eyes of 300 consecutive patients were included in the study. Cases of uveitis due to postoperative endophthalmitis, perforating injuries, and foreign bodies were excluded from the study. The data, including sex, age, clinical presentation, disease course and outcome, ocular involvement, etiology, and associated systemic findings, were entered into a computer database. Pearson chi-square statistical analysis was performed to analyze the data whenever necessary.


RESULTS
The study subjects consisted of 162 males and 138 females, with a female to male ratio of 1:1.17 and an average age of 35.7 years. Anterior uveitis was the most common form of uveitis with 43.6%, followed by posterior uveitis (26.6%), panuveitis (20.6%), and intermediate uveitis (9%). Idiopathic uveitis (28.3%) was the most frequent cause of uveitis diagnosed, followed by Behçet's disease (26%) and rheumatic diseases (9%). In 215 (71.7%) out of 300 patients, a specific cause of uveitis with associated systemic findings was identified. Uveitis was attributed to an infectious etiology in only 41 patients (13.6%) of the entire study population.


CONCLUSIONS
The etiology of uveitis and its associated systemic findings may vary depending on the geographic distribution of patients and local factors. These results represent those of patients with uveitis referred to hospitals in central Anatolia.
Sengün
Ahmet
A
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, 3rd Eye Clinic Ankara Turkey.
Karadağ
Remzi
R
Karakurt
Ahmet
A
Saricaoğlu
M Sinan
MS
Abdik
Onur
O
Hasiripi
Hikmet
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014605:Uveitis / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*