title: Looking for Ocular Tuberculosis: Prevalence and Clinical Manifestations of Patients with Uveitis and Positive QuantiFERON®-TB Gold Test.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report on the prevalence of ocular TB and positive QuantiFERON®-TB Gold (QFT-G) test in uveitis patients and describe their clinical manifestations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a prospective study of 108 new human immunodeficiency virus-negative uveitis patients. All patients underwent a tailored screening protocol for uveitis and received QFT-G test and tuberculin skin tests (TST).
  
  
  RESULTS
  QFT-G test was positive in 39/108 (36%) of patients, while TST ≥15 mm was positive in 16/108 (15%) patients. None of the patients were identified with active systemic TB. Out of 39 QFT-G-positive patients, 25 (64%) were of unknown cause, which represents a higher proportion than encountered in QFT-G-negative cases (29/69; 42%; p<0.03). Retinal occlusive vasculitis was frequently observed in patients with positive QFT-G outcomes (10/39 vs 3/69; p = 0.001) and was commonly associated with high QFT-G levels, young age, and male gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Out of all patients with uveitis, none had active systemic TB but 36% were positive for QFT-G test. QFT-G-positive patients frequently had uveitis of unknown cause and exhibited clinical features of occlusive retinal vasculitis.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University , Thailand.
authors.forename: Kessara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pathanapitoon
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University , Thailand.
authors.forename: Paradee
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kunavisarut
authors.affiliation: b Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences , Chiang Mai University , Thailand.
authors.forename: Wasna
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sirirungsi
authors.affiliation: c Department of Ophthalmology , Erasmus Medical Center , Rotterdam , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aniki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rothova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D015897:Comorbidity / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014374:Tuberculin Test / Q000379:methods*; D014392:Tuberculosis, Ocular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014605:Uveitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial
keywords: Clinical manifestations; QuantiFERON®-TB Gold test; Thailand; tuberculosis; uveitis