Patterns of uveitis in children at the apex institute for eye care in India: analysis and review of literature.

aimTo study patterns of uveitis in Indian children and compare with data sets published earlier in the literature.

methodsConsecutive patients below 16 years of age presenting to the uvea clinic of a tertiary eye care center were included prospectively through the period of July 2009-August 2013. Children with retinal vasculitis, exogenous endophthalmitis and masquerade syndromes were excluded from analysis. Uveitis was classified as per the nomenclature system adopted by the International Uveitis Study Group. Hemogram, Mantoux test and chest X-ray were done for each patient, along with tailored investigations and pediatric review as per clinical profile. Clinical pattern and etiology were the main outcome measures.

resultsOne hundred and thirty-four children were analyzed. Anterior uveitis (40%) was the commonest pattern followed by intermediate uveitis (25%), panuveitis (18%) and posterior uveitis (17%). Bilateral disease was present in 54%, 15% had infectious uveitis, 10% had granulomatous uveitis and 54% had idiopathic uveitis. Complications were present in half of the patients. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (22), followed by toxoplasmosis (10) and tuberculosis (5), was the commonest etiology. Intermediate uveitis, non-granulomatous inflammation and older onset of disease had the high odds ratio of having idiopathic disease.

conclusionPatterns of pediatric uveitis can vary between regions from even within the same geopolitical region. Anterior uveitis is commonest, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis and toxoplasmosis are the most frequent etiologies. Diagnosis of pediatric ocular tuberculosis is more difficult than in adults and needs better and well-defined criteria.