Clinical profile and outcomes of pediatric uveitis: A retrospective analysis

Uveitis is an inflammation of the anatomical layer, which consists of the iris, ciliary body and choroid. Pediatric uveitis is rare, but tends to be more severe and chronic than in adults. This study aims to evaluate the etiology, clinical features, treatment and complications in pediatric uveitis. In this study, the files of 55 pediatric patients (28 boys and 27 girls) under the age of 18 years who were followed up with the diagnosis of uveitis between January 2016 and November 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Each patient was evaluated in terms of age, gender, age at onset of uveitis, first vision, last vision, involved eye, follow-up period, etiology, localization, course, treatments, surgical interventions, and complications. The mean ages of boys and girls with uveitis included in the study were 15.1 ± 2.7 and 15.0 ± 2.9, respectively. The mean follow-up period of the patients was 3.9 ± 2.8 (years). The mean age at onset of uveitis was 11.1 ± 2.8 years in boys and 12.2 ± 3.1 years in girls. Uveitis involvement in the right eye was 11 (20%), in the left eye 8 (14.5%) and bilateral involvement was 36 (65.5%). The most common etiological causes were idiopathic (52.7%) and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (27.3%). The most common types of uveitis were anterior (54.5%) and chronic (74.5%), complications were cataract (36.4%) and posterior synechia (30.9%). At the last examination, best corrected visual acuity was ≤0.1 in 5 (9.1%) right and 3 (5.5%) left eyes, 0.1 to 0.5 in 2 (3.6%) right and 3 (5.5%) left eyes, and ≥0.5 in 48 (87.3%) right and 49 (89.1%) left eyes. The findings showed that 14.5% of patients received local steroid treatment and 85.5% of patients were administered systemic treatment. About 16.4% of patients underwent surgical treatment. In our study, bilateral, chronic and anterior uveitis involvement were observed most frequently. The most common underlying causes were idiopathic and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, complications were cataract and posterior synechiae. About 85.5% patients received systemic treatment and 16.4% patients' surgical treatment.