title: Visual outcomes in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze visual outcomes in children affected by juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective interventional case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-nine children with JIA-associated uveitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Charts of children with JIA-associated uveitis were reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Change in patients' visual acuities (VAs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 269 children with uveitic syndromes referred, 89 (33%) had JIA-associated uveitis. The process was bilateral in 76 children. Seventy-three patients were female, and 84% of patients were Caucasian. Mean age of onset of uveitis was 5.7 years. Mean follow-up was 2.96 years. Antinuclear antibody positivity was detected in 56 patients, 44 of them female. Patients with JIA-associated uveitis developed numerous complications in the course of their disease: of 165 affected eyes, 105 (64%) developed cataracts, 33 (20%) developed increased intraocular pressure, and 76 (46%) developed band keratopathy; posterior synechiae were present in 96 (58%). Of 89 children, 73% were treated with immunomodulators, 40% were treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents alone or in combination with immunomodulators, and 21% were treated with topical and/or systemic steroids. Of 65 children who required immunomodulation, only one chemotherapeutic agent was used in 30, two agents in 21, and > or =3 in 14. Visual acuities of 65 children (122 eyes) were documented and compared at standard intervals. By mixed-models linear regression, improvement in VA of 0.03 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution units per year was not found to be statistically significant (standard error, 0.02, P = 0.089).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis is a sight-threatening disease. However, much of the children's vision can be preserved if patients are treated appropriately.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Leila I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Kump
authors.forename: René A Cervantes
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Castañeda
authors.forename: Sofia N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Androudi
authors.forename: George F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: C Stephen
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Foster
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014606:Uveitis, Anterior / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D007155:Immunologic Factors