title: Bilateral Posterior Scleritis: Analysis of 18 Cases from a Large Cohort of Posterior Scleritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients and analyze factors associated with bilateral posterior scleritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective cohort study, records of patients with diagnosis of bilateral posterior scleritis at two tertiary-care centers in the UK and India were analyzed in comparison with the clinical profile of patients with unilateral scleritis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 18 patients with bilateral posterior scleritis were identified and compared with 96 patients of unilateral posterior scleritis; 14 (77%) were women and the median age was 48 years. Headache (p = 0.04), optic nerve swelling (p = 0.01), and elevated antinuclear antibodies (ANA) titers (p = 0.03) were present more frequently in patients with bilateral than in unilateral posterior scleritis. Seven patients (38.88%) required immunosuppressive therapy to attain resolution of the inflammation and to prevent relapse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bilateral posterior scleritis is an uncommon but severe inflammation of the posterior sclera. The majority of them are idiopathic, often requiring aggressive treatment to prevent visual loss.
authors.affiliation: a Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK .|b Surgery Department , Universidad de Alcalá School of Medicine, Madrid, Spain .
authors.forename: Julio J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: González-López
authors.affiliation: a Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK .
authors.forename: Alenka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lavric
authors.affiliation: c Medical Research Foundation , Chennai , India .
authors.forename: Parthopratim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dutta Majumder
authors.affiliation: c Medical Research Foundation , Chennai , India .
authors.forename: Nishat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.affiliation: c Medical Research Foundation , Chennai , India .
authors.forename: Jyotirmay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: a Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK .|d Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology , London , UK , and.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pavesio
authors.affiliation: a Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK .|e National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital , Singapore.
authors.forename: Rupesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agrawal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010211:Papilledema / Q000175:diagnosis; D057972:Posterior Eye Segment / Q000473:pathology*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015423:Scleritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents
keywords: ANA; bilateral posterior scleritis; immunosuppressive therapy; posterior scleritis; systemic association