title: Characteristics of childhood uveitis leading to visual impairment and blindness in the Netherlands.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical characteristics of childhood uveitis leading to visual impairment or blindness.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this descriptive study, we reviewed data from the medical records of 58 children with visual impairment or blindness due to childhood uveitis, which were seen at an institute for visually impaired patients (Bartiméus) between January 1981 and December 2012, in a retrospective, cross-sectional manner.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-two of the 58 children (55%) were visually impaired and 26 (45%) were legally blind. Uveitis was posterior in 76% of all cases. Infectious uveitis represented 74% of all cases, of which 86% was congenital. Five patients (9%) had uveitis related to a systemic disease, and ten patients (17%) had idiopathic uveitis. There was a decrease in infectious causes over the last decades (p = 0.04) and an increase in idiopathic uveitis (p < 0.01), but the rate of children with posterior uveitis remained constant. There was an overall decrease in the number of children with uveitis referred to Bartiméus. The number of ocular complications at the time of intake was higher in children with acquired disease compared with congenital diseases (p < 0.01), as it was in children with non-infectious uveitis compared with infectious uveitis (p = 0.04). Most comorbidities that were noted were seen in children with infectious uveitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most patients suffering from visual impairment or blindness due to childhood uveitis had posterior and/or infectious uveitis, mostly congenital. There is a shift in causes which shows a decrease in infectious causes and an increase in idiopathic causes.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Bartiméus, Zeist, The Netherlands.
authors: Ymkje M
authors: YM
authors: Hettinga
authors: Fleurieke H
authors: FH
authors: Verhagen
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: van Genderen
authors: Joke H
authors: JH
authors: de Boer
mesh_terms: D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015817:Eye Infections / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014605:Uveitis / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: blindness; childhood uveitis; congenital infection; vision loss; visual impairment