Risk factors for ocular sarcoidosis

Abstract

We reviewed 121 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis who visited the sarcoidosis clinic of the University Hospital in Amsterdam, to determine the risk factors for the development of ocular manifestations. Of 121 patients 52 (43%) were black. Ocular disease developed in 50 (41%) patients and was more common in female and in black patients. Uveitis was the most frequent manifestation of ocular sarcoidosis (29 out of 50 or 58%). There were no differences in the extra-ocular manifestations of the sarcoidosis between patients with and without ocular disease or between uveitis and non-uveitis patients. This study covered a mixed racial population and shows that different types of uveitis are seen in white and black patients. Anterior uveitis was more frequent in black patients (P < .001), whereas posterior uveitis was more common in white patients (P < .01). Chronic posterior uveitis with complications occurred most frequently in white female patients with late onset of the systemic disease. Uveitis was an early feature of sarcoidosis (25 out of 29 or 86%); moreover in 9 out of 29 (31%) cases, uveitis preceded the non-ocular detectable signs of sarcoidosis by more than one year. This emphasizes the importance of periodic re-evaluation of uveitis patients for sarcoidosis.