Ten-year study of the epidemiology and clinical features of uveitis in Picardie, France

Purpose. - To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics, etiology and management of patients presenting with uveitis to a secondary center. Materials and methods. - This was a retrospective, single-center study including patients over 18 years of age who were diagnosed with uveitis and followed between January 2013 and January 2023. Results. - In all, 1082 patients, 537 men (49.7%) and 545 women (50.3%), were included. The mean age at the first visit was 48.2 +/- 18.6 years. The most frequent anatomical location was anterior uveitis (784 cases, 72.5%), followed by panuveitis (133 cases, 12.3%). Posterior uveitis (103 cases, 9.5%) and intermediate uveitis (62 cases, 5.7%) were less common. An etiology was identified in 65.3% of anterior uveitis, 73.8% of posterior uveitis, and 64.7% of panuveitis. In contrast, only 38.7% of intermediate uveitis cases had an identified etiology. The most frequent causes of uveitis were herpes group virus-related uveitis, HLA B-27 related uveitis, sarcoidosis, and toxoplasmosis. Among patients with non-infectious uveitis, 111 (10.3%) were treated with systemic corticosteroids, 93 (8.5%) with antimetabolites as a steroid-sparing approach, and 67 (6.2%) received biologic therapy. Conclusion. - These results summarize the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with uveitis in northern France. There are distinct similarities and differences in the patterns of uveitis presentation, varying significantly according to geographical and environmental factors, which may help physicians in this region to manage uveitis.