[Efficiency evaluation of non-infectious uveitis]

Authors compared clinical and economic effeciency of treatment of the classical corticosteroids therapy and modern immunosuppressive treatment or their combination. Retrospective evaluation carried out in 2012, covering 2006-2011, monitored sample of 27 patients, 16 women and 11 men, 45 eyes with disabilities. The average age in the last year of follow-up monitoring was 30.2, ranging from 14 to 76 years. The mean duration of disease for the whole sample is 16.5 years with a range from 6 to 36 years. Three basic diagnoses were included in investigated group: chronic iridocyclitis in 59 % of eyes, intermediate uveitis in 30 % of eyes and sympathetic ophthalmia in 11 % of eyes. The optimal treatment not be determined, however, combined corticosteroid sparing therapy was the most beneficial to maintain in terms of visual acuity with minimal side effects and cost effectiveness. Successful outcomes of treatment were observed for intermediate uveitis, because the visual acuity improved in nine letetters of ETDRS chart in the study. Satisfactory treatment was proved in chronic iridocyclitis and sympathetic ophthalmia in general, because visual acuity improved in a few letters of ETDRS chart, in the same line as in the beginning of the six-year follow-up. Rounded average annual prize for treatment including pharmacotherapy, outpatient and inpatient care and laboratory follow-up was in chronic iridocyclitis € 990, in intermediate uveitis € 310 and sympathetic ophthalmia € 1550. Pharmacotherapy exceeded the financial appraisal of specialized medical and inpatient care in total cost. Key words: uveitis, corticosteorids, immunosuppression, costeffectivness.