title: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UVEITIS, DIFFERENT TYPES OF VIRAL HEPATITIS, AND LIVER CIRRHOSIS: A 12-Year Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates whether patients with viral hepatitis and cirrhosis are at risk of uveitis in the years following hepatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from Taiwan National Health Insurance system. The cases were patients newly diagnosed with viral hepatitis from 2000 to 2011. The end point of interest was a diagnosis of uveitis. A chi-square test was used for the difference of demographic characteristics between viral hepatitis and comparison. The risk of uveitis in hepatitis was stratified using Cox proportional hazard regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We selected 17,389 patients with viral hepatitis and 34,778 matched comparison. The risk of uveitis in hepatitis cohort was 1.30-fold (95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.69). Patients with hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus coinfection had the highest risk (hazard ratio = 2.88; 95% confidence interval = 1.07-7.78), and followed by only hepatitis C virus infection (hazard ratio = 1.75; 95% confidence interval = 1.10-2.79). Patients with cirrhosis had a higher risk in the multivariable model but did not attach statistic difference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus coinfection had the highest risk of uveitis. In patients with hepatitis C virus and/or hepatitis B virus infection, the symptoms of uveitis should be alerted. Although these epidemiologic studies yielded informative results, the underlying mechanisms and the host's genetic factors remain to be investigated.
authors.affiliation: *Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan;†Department of Ophthalmology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan;‡School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan;§An-Shin Dialysis Center, NephroCare Ltd, Fresenius Medical Care, Taichung, Taiwan;¶Department of Ophthalmology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan;**Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan;††College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; and‡‡School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Peng-Tai
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Tien
authors.forename: Chun-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yi-Yu
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Huan-Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: De-Kuang
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Chih-Hsin
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Muo
authors.forename: Jane-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wen-Lu
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D060085:Coinfection; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014605:Uveitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult