Uveitis in spondyloarthritis: clinical patterns and differences between axial and peripheral forms

The association between uveitis and spondyloarthritis is well established. However, its characterization across the different types of spondyloarthritis remains limited in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a comparative characterization of uveitis in the various types of spondyloarthritis.

Retrospective observational study that included patients with non-infectious uveitis and spondyloarthritis from a multidisciplinary uveitis clinic. A descriptive analysis was performed across the different subtypes of spondyloarthritis, followed by a comparative analysis regrouping patients into axial and peripheral SpA categories.

163 patients with spondyloarthritis-associated uveitis were included, comprising radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (49%), non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (21%), spondyloarthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (13%), psoriatic arthritis (12%), and peripheral spondyloarthritis (4%). Anterior uveitis (97%), acute relapsing course (79%), and alternating laterality (47.4%) were predominant in the overall sample. When comparing axial versus peripheral forms, significant differences were observed: intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis locations occurred exclusively in the peripheral forms, which also showed higher frequencies of chronic courses (p < 0.001), bilateralism (p < 0.05), and greater use of systemic therapy (p = 0.05). Regarding this treatment to control uveitis, 28.2% of patients required immunomodulatory therapy (more sulfasalazine in axial forms, and methotrexate in peripheral) and 17.8% required biologic therapy. Biologic discontinuation was higher in peripheral forms (p = 0.059). Variables predicting greater need for systemic therapy included chronic course, bilateralism, higher number of annual episodes, younger age of onset, peripheral joint involvement, and presence of vitritis (all p < 0.05).

Acute anterior uveitis constitutes the most frequent pattern in all spondyloarthritis types. However, peripheral forms exhibit a higher prevalence of non-anterior, chronic, and bilateral uveitis, and, additionally, appeared to require greater use of immunomodulatory therapy. Key Points • Understanding and distinguishing the ocular inflammatory processes associated with SpA may have important therapeutic and prognostic implications. • Although acute recurrent anterior uveitis was the most frequent patternacross all SpA subtypes, in the peripheral SpA group (pSpA, IBD-SpA, and PsA) a higher prevalence of intermediate, posterior, panuveitis, chronic course, and bilateral uveitis was observed. • The peripheral SpA group (pSpA, IBD-SpA, and PsA) appeared to require greater use of immunomodulatory drugs (csDMARDs or biologics) for control of the ocular condition, suggesting the need for closer monitoring and tailored therapeutic strategies.