The Pattern of Uveitis in Sri Lanka

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• Uveitis, inflammation of the uvea, presents diverse etiologies and clinical patterns globally.
• Understanding regional patterns is vital for accurate diagnosis and management, especially in diverse populations like Sri Lanka.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the epidemiological and etiological patterns of uveitis at a tertiary referral center in Sri Lanka.
• To identify common causes and demographic associations of different uveitis types.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of consecutive patient charts from a uveitis registry (January 2010 - December 2014).
• Data analysis included classification by uveitis type (anterior, intermediate, posterior, panuveitis) and identified etiological factors.

Main Results:

• Anterior uveitis (AU) was most frequent (38%), followed by posterior (25%), intermediate (20%), and panuveitis (17%).
• Idiopathic cases comprised 65% overall. Identified causes included seronegative spondyloarthropathy-related AU, HLA-B27-related AU, herpetic AU, trematode uveitis, toxoplasmosis, tuberculosis, and sarcoidosis.
• In children (3% of cases), idiopathic intermediate uveitis, idiopathic AU, toxoplasmosis, trematode uveitis, and toxocariasis were most common.

Conclusions:

• Infectious etiologies, particularly toxoplasmosis and tuberculosis, are significant contributors to posterior uveitis in Sri Lanka.
• Uveitis in children warrants consideration of infectious causes, including trematode and toxocariasis.
• An infectious etiology should be strongly considered in posterior uveitis and pediatric uveitis cases within the Sri Lankan population.