Characteristics and reasons of blindness induced by uveitis / 中华眼底病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the features and main reasons of blindness induced by uveitis in China. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the data from 1 214 patients with uveitis, referring to Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, with special respect to the incidence of blindness in different uveitis entities, the characteristics of blindness, and possible causes for the blindness. Results In the affected 1 892 eyes of 1 214 patients with uveitis, 355 eyes (18.83%) were blind. The mean age at the onset of blindness was 34.38 years and the gender ratio of male to female was 1.521. The blindness led by panuveitis was found in 248 eyes (26.27%), including 128 (51.61%) and 73 (29.44%) blind eyes caused by Behcet's disease and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome. Complicated cataract, vitreous opacity and secondary glaucoma were responsible for the blindness of the patients with panuveitis [89(35.89%), 53 (21.37%), and 30 eyes (12.10%), respectively]. Blindness caused by anterior uveitis was noted in 79 eyes (10.73%) with the main reasons of complicated cataract [56 eyes (70.89%)] and secondary glaucoma [16 eyes (20.25%)], posterior uveitis in 15 eyes (15.63%) with the main reason of vitreous opacity [9 eyes (60.00%)], macular diseases in 3 eyes (20.00%), intermediate uveitis in 13 eyes (11.21%) with the main reasons of vitreous opacity [8 eyes (61.54%)], and complicated cataract in 5 eyes (38.46%). Conclusions Uveitis is one of the important causes leading to blindness, especially in the young adults. Panuveitis, especially Behcet's disease and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, are the most common entities responsible for blindness in patients with uveitis. Complicated cataract and secondary glaucoma are the main causes of blindness in uveitis.