A clinical evaluation of uveitis-associated secondary glaucoma

To investigate the clinical features of secondary glaucoma associated with uveitis.

The subjects of the study were 1,099 patients with uveitis (1,604 eyes) treated at the Miyata Eye Hospital, Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, between October 1974 and January 2000. The intraocular pressure (IOP) and clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. Secondary glaucoma was diagnosed in the patients when IOP was higher than 21 mm Hg at two consecutive visits and they needed treatment with medication to control the high IOP.

Secondary glaucoma was found in 293 eyes (18.3%) of 217 patients (19.7%) among the uveitis patients. The clinical entity with the highest incidence of secondary glaucoma was Posner-Schlossman syndrome in 100%, followed by sarcoidosis in 34.1%, herpetic anterior uveitis in 30.4%, Behçet's disease in 20.8%, human leukocyte antigen-B27-related acute anterior uveitis in 20.0%, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada's disease in 16.4%, and human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 uveitis in 16.2%. Among these 293 eyes with secondary glaucoma, the majority (72%) had active anterior uveitis at the time of high IOP. Only 7.5% of the secondary glaucoma eyes had peripheral anterior synechia wider than 180 degrees of the trabecular meshwork. Steroid-induced glaucoma was found in only 8.9% of the secondary glaucoma eyes. Surgical therapy, mainly trabeculectomy with anti-metabolites, was performed in 38 eyes and the post-surgical IOP was controlled under 20 mm Hg in 34 eyes. Despite the medical and surgical therapy for secondary glaucoma, visual field defect was found in 39% of the secondary glaucoma eyes.

The incidence of secondary glaucoma in the 1,604 eyes with uveitis was 18.3%, but it differed depending upon the clinical entity of the uveitis. The evaluation and the management of IOP are very important in the treatment of patients with uveitis, in addition to the management of intraocular inflammation.