Clinical Features of Varicella-Zoster Virus-Associated Anterior Uveitis with or without Ophthalmic Herpes Zoster

This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics, diagnostic markers, and treatment outcomes of varicella-zoster virus-associated anterior uveitis (VZV-AU) with and without ophthalmic herpes zoster (herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) and zoster sine herpete (ZSH), respectively).

Clinical records of 47 VZV-AU patients (21 ZSH, 26 hZO) were retrospectively reviewed for clinical findings, medication use, and PCR using aqueous humor (AH) results.

There was no significant difference in age, gender, visual acuity (VA), or intraocular pressure (IOP) between the two groups. At the initial visit, small-to-medium white keratic precipitates (KPs) were significantly more observed in ZSH group than in HZO group, although there was no significant difference in the frequencies of other ocular findings between the two groups. Early antiviral medication use was significantly higher in HZO group (96.2%) than in ZSH group (19.1%). PCR was performed in 85.7% of ZSH and 53.8% of HZO patients. VZV-DNA positivity and viral load were similar between groups. Multivariate analysis revealed a positive correlation between white KPs and VZV viral load in AH. Although the ultimate use of antiviral medication was still less in ZSH group (71.4%), there were no significant differences in VA and IOP at the last visit between the two groups.

Patients with ZSH had more white KPs and received less early antiviral medication than those with HZO. However, visual outcomes were similar between the two groups. Small-to-medium white KPs were significantly associated with the viral load of VZV in AH, suggesting that they could be an active marker.