Changing Trends in Uveitis in the United Kingdom: 5000 Consecutive Referrals to a Tertiary Referral Centre

Purpose To demonstrate changes in the demography and diagnosis of uveitis in a specialist clinic in the United Kingdom. Methods Retrieval of data including all new referrals to Manchester Uveitis Clinic from 1991 to 2020. The incidence and proportions of diagnoses between 4 quartiles was compared. Results 5000 patients with uveitis were seen. Referral rates trebled over time. Highly significant increases in referrals were seen for multiple evanescent white dot syndrome-spectrum disorders, syphilis and tuberculosis; increases were also seen for herpetic retinitis, vitreoretinal lymphoma and sarcoidosis. Highly significant decreases were seen for Fuchs' uveitis, Behcet's uveitis and ocular toxoplasmosis. Conclusions Subspecialisation and de-skilling has changed referral patterns to specialist clinics; changes cannot be entirely attributed to disease incidences, which also vary between countries. International data are non-comparable. There are clear changes in referral patterns and disease incidence in this population, influenced by evolving diagnosis. Local data should steer care planning.