Rates of Drug-Induced Uveitis: A Review by Medication Class

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pharmacology
• Internal Medicine

Background:

• Drug-induced uveitis is an uncommon yet significant cause of intraocular inflammation.
• The expanding use of biologics, targeted therapies, and chronic ocular medications necessitates drug class-specific data.
• Understanding risk, phenotype, and clinical course is crucial for managing this condition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and review published literature on drug-induced uveitis.
• To summarize incidence, clinical phenotypes, latency to onset, and time to resolution by medication class, route, and patient factors.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library (September 2025).
• Inclusion of English-language articles on human cases of noninfectious uveitis attributed to specific medications.
• Data analysis focused on medication class, exposure time, uveitis location, treatment, and resolution.

Main Results:

• 317 articles and 690 patient cases were analyzed.
• Mean age at onset was 54.4 years; 63.4% had bilateral disease, 74.8% anterior uveitis.
• Most implicated drug classes: antineoplastics (29.1%), vaccines (15.8%), antibiotics (13.0%), and IOP-lowering drops (11.9%).

Conclusions:

• Drug-induced uveitis presents a diverse range of clinical features and outcomes.
• Understanding these presentations is vital for improving patient outcomes.
• Minimizing vision-threatening risks requires awareness of drug-induced uveitis.