title: Epidemiology of uveitis in a Western urban multiethnic population. The challenge of globalization.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the anatomical pattern and etiological spectrum of uveitis in an urban multi-ethnic population from Barcelona, Spain. General and specific epidemiological data for the most prevalent aetiologies are also calculated.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of consecutive uveitis cases was performed between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2012. Exogenous endophthalmitis, surgery-related, post-traumatic and toxic uveitis along with masquerade syndromes were excluded. Anatomical (Standard Uveitis Nomenclature criteria) and aetiological patterns (by tailored tests), age, sex, geographical origin and laterality were analysed. Mean incidence and prevalence were calculated for a mid-period reference population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 1022 patients included, 52% were anterior uveitis (AU), 23% posterior, 15% panuveitis and 9% intermediate uveitis. Aetiologically, 26% were unclassifiable, 29% infectious, 25% associated with systemic immune diseases, and 20% corresponded to ocular-specific syndromes. Among classified causes, herpesvirus (12%), toxoplasma (7%), Behçet's disease (BD) (5%), HLA-B27-isolated AU (5%), ankylosing spondylitis (5%), tuberculosis-related uveitis (TRU) (5%), birdshot chorioretinopathy (3%) and sarcoidosis (3%) were the most frequent. Non-Spanish origin was recorded in 22%, with 47% of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada and 36% of toxoplasma cases coming from South America, 10% of BD and 11% of TRU from Africa and 24% of TRU cases from Asia. A mean annual incidence of 51.91 cases/100,000 inhabitants was found for the referral population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our referral area, 74% of the uveitis cases can be correctly classified. A large myriad of uveitis aetiologies with a strong geographical origin burden are found in Western urban multi-ethnic populations.
authors: Clínic Institute of Ophthalmology (ICOF), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Victor
authors: V
authors: Llorenç
authors: Clínic Institute of Ophthalmology (ICOF), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Marina
authors: M
authors: Mesquida
authors: Clínic Institute of Ophthalmology (ICOF), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Maite
authors: M
authors: Sainz de la Maza
authors: Clínic Institute of Ophthalmology (ICOF), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Keller
authors: Institut de Recerca Biomèdica August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Blanca
authors: B
authors: Molins
authors: Department of Autoimmune & Systemic Diseases (ICM), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Gerard
authors: G
authors: Espinosa
authors: Rheumatology Department., Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: María V
authors: MV
authors: Hernandez
authors: Department of Clinical Microbiology (CDB-CRESIB)., Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Julian
authors: J
authors: Gonzalez-Martín
authors: Clínic Institute of Ophthalmology (ICOF), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Alfredo
authors: A
authors: Adán
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014605:Uveitis / Q000145:classification* / Q000208:ethnology*
keywords: Europe; Spain; aetiology; anatomical pattern; epidemiology; herpes; incidence; toxoplasma; uveitis