Demographic Characteristics, Clinical Presentations, and Risk Factors Impacting Visual Outcomes in Peripheral...

To assess the demographic characteristics, ophthalmic and systemic presentations, and risk factors impacting the outcomes in patients diagnosed with peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK).

This retrospective study includes patients diagnosed with PUK at a tertiary care center over 13 years. A descriptive analysis of the demographics, clinical history, and presentation was performed. A reverse risk analysis was performed to assess the PUK resolution in patients with underlying autoimmune and non-autoimmune etiologies. Finally, we evaluated the correlation between treatment duration and final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and continuous and categorical variables.

A total of 58 eyes of 51 patients with a mean age of 59.67 ± 13.41 years diagnosed with PUK were included in the study; 58.82% were female. The resolution duration was significantly shorter in patients with autoimmune etiologies (vs. non-autoimmune etiologies, P = 0.028) and female patients (vs. male patients, P = 0.008). The BCVA worsened in patients with non-autoimmune etiologies after treatment ( P = 0.17). Despite worse BCVA at presentation in patients with underlying autoimmune etiologies, significantly better final vision outcomes were observed ( P = 0.04). Linear regression analysis showed that longer treatment duration ( P = 0.001; R 2 = 0.1704) and worse vision ( P = 0.002; R 2 = 0.1502) at presentation were the primary risk factors of poor vision outcomes. Similarly, the treatment duration was significantly longer in male compared with female patients ( P < 0.001; R 2 = 0.2027).

The clinical outcomes in PUK with underlying autoimmune disorders were observed to be better than non-autoimmune etiologies, which may be attributed to the early detection of the PUK-related changes and aggressive medical management. A delayed diagnosis of PUK leads to poor vision outcomes.