Patterns and Outcomes of Childhood Non-Infectious Uveitis: A Retrospective Cohort and Review of Literature

PurposeThis study aims to identify the patterns and risk factors of uveitis in a cohort of Iranian children referred to a tertiary pediatric rheumatology clinic.MethodA retrospective analysis was performed using the medical records of all patients with uveitis of any cause who were referred to a tertiary pediatric rheumatology clinic, along with subsequent juvenile-onset Beh & ccedil;et's disease and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) cases as controls.ResultsCauses of uveitis included JIA (n = 24), Beh & ccedil;et's disease (n = 15), idiopathic uveitis (n = 14), Sarcoidosis/Blau syndrome (n = 3), systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 2) and reactive arthritis (n = 1). Anterior and panuveitis were the most common anatomical subtypes. Retinal vasculitis was found in 28.8% of patients and 57.6% had bilateral uveitis. Complications occurred in 32% of cases, persistent visual impairment in 23% and legal blindness in none. The median "time-to-uveitis" ranged from 1 year in oligoarticular JIA to 6.5 years in the polyarticular group, with no significant difference in cumulative prevalence. Risk factors of persistent/recurrent uveitis were a lower age at onset of uveitis (p = 0.010) and retinal vasculitis (p = 0.049).ConclusionsThis study presents a distinct pattern of uveitis among different etiological groups and describes three rare causes of uveitis. JIA-associated uveitis has a late-onset peak in the polyarticular group. This study adds to the existing evidence on the importance of long-term screening for uveitis and early treatment in pediatric rheumatic diseases.