Clinical Characteristics and Prognostic Factors in Ankylosing Spondylitis Associated Uveitis

To identify the clinical features and prognostic factors of uveitis associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

This retrospective, interventional case series study reviewed the medical records of 91 AS patients with uveitis.

The characteristics of AS-associated uveitis included male preponderance (70%), average onset in the fourth decade, unilateral manifestation (87.9%), and vitreous involvement or retinal vascular leakage (36.3%). All patients had acute anterior uveitis. The best corrected visual acuity in logMAR improved from 0.8 ± 0.3 to 0.1 ± 0.2. The use of biologic agents was the only significant factor in the multivariate analysis. Patients with vitreous involvement/retinal vascular leakage were more likely to use systemic/peribulbar steroids for inflammation control, and achieved equally favorable visual outcome as in those without vitreous involvement/retinal vascular leakage.

The clinical characteristics and profile of visual prognostic factors suggest an association between the severity of ocular inflammation and systemic disease.