Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis: Data from a region in western Greece

Abstract

Ioannis Asproudis1, Felekis Taxiarchis1, Elena Tsanou2, Spiridon Gorezis2, Eikaterini Karali3, Sapfo Alfantaki3, Antigoni Siamopoulou-Mauridou3, Miltiadis Aspiotis11University Eye Clinic of Ioannina, Greece; 2Epirus Vision Center, Ioannina, Greece; 3Department of Child Health, University of Ioannina, GreeceObjective: To evaluate the characteristics and visual prognosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis (JIA).Methods: A retrospective review was performed on 56 patients who met the criteria for JIA to identify those with uveitis and related complications. Patients were referred to and were examined in the Pediatric Department of the University Hospital of Ioannina, between 1995 and 2007.Results: The prevalence of JIA-associated uveitis was high. Despite this and the related complications, the final visual outcome was satisfactory in the majority of the cases. Authors did not observe any correlation between prognosis and sex, age at the onset of uveitis or arthritis, pattern of arthritis, or positivity for antinuclear antibodies (ANA).Conclusion: We found a remarkably high prevalence of uveitis and related ocular complications in 7 (28%) of the patients, and the rate of poor visual outcome was 12%.Keywords: idiopathic arthritis, uveitis, visual complications, autoimmune disease