Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The causes of uveitis in a referral centre of Northern Italy

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Uveitis is a complex intraocular inflammatory disease resulting from several aetiological entities that are linked to geographical, genetic and socioeconomic variables. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the distribution patterns of uveitis as seen in a nationwide referral centre at a community hospital in Reggio Emilia, northern Italy, and to compare our data with those reported in previously published international series. The records of 1064 patients of Italian origin with uveitis referred to the Immunology Ocular Unit of the Arcispedale S. Maria Nuova Hospital in Reggio Emilia from 2002 to 2008 were classified and analysed. Data regarding sex, race, residence, age at presentation and at onset of uveitis, ocular involvement, clinical characteristics, ocular condition, and systemic disease associations were collected. The mean age at onset of uveitis was 41 years (range: 1–94), and the male-to-female ratio was 1:1.2. Anterior uveitis was the most common location (51.2%), followed by posterior uveitis (23.4%), panuveitis (19.6%), and intermediate uveitis (5.8%). The most frequent entities included Fuchs uveitis (22.7%), herpetic anterior uveitis (9.9%), toxoplasmosis (6.9%), HLA-B27-associated anterior uveitis (5.3%), and Behçet’s disease (5.3%). The distribution we observed of the most common disease entities conformed to previous international series. In our series, Fuchs uveitis represented the most common diagnosis (22.7%, 45% of anterior uveitis). The high percentage of specific diagnosis (74%) can be explained by the establishment of new disease categories over time as well as by a systematic multi-disciplinary diagnostic approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wakefield D, Chang JH (2005) Epidemiology of uveitis. Int Ophthalmol Clin 45(2):1–13

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bloch-Michel E, Nussenblatt RB (1987) International Uveitis Study Group recommendations for the evaluation of intraocular inflammatory disease. Am J Ophthalmol 103:234–235

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Kanski JJ, Pavesio CE, Tuft SJ (2006) Ocular inflammatory disease. Elsevier Mosby, London, pp 172–178

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gupta A, Gupta V, Herbort CP, Khairallah M (2009) Uveitis text and imaging. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, New Delhi

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Jones NP (2002) Sarcoidosis. Curr Opin Ophthalmol 13:393–396

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Jabs DA, Nussemblatt RB, Rosembaum JT, Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature (SUN) Working Group (2005) Standardization of uveitis nomenclature for reporting clinical data. Results of the First International Workshop. Am J Ophthalmol 140:509–516

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Pleyer U, Mondino B (2004) Essentials in ophthalmology: uveitis and immunological disorders. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York

    Google Scholar 

  8. Tran VT, Auer C, Guex-Crosier Y, Pittet N, Herbort CP (1994–1995) Epidemiological characteristics of uveitis in Switzerland. Int Ophthalmol 18:293–298

    Google Scholar 

  9. International Study Group for Behçet’s Disease (1990) Evaluation of diagnostic “classification” criteria in Behçet’s disease: toward internationally agreed criteria. Lancet 335:1078–1080

    Google Scholar 

  10. Tugal-Tutkun I, Onal S, Altan-Yaycioglu R, Altunbas HH, Urgancioglu M (2004) Uveitis in Behçet disease: an analysis of 880 patients. Am J Ophthalmol 138:373–380

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Cimino L, Herbort CP, Aldigeri R, Salvarani C, Boiardi L (2009) Tuberculous uveitis, a resurgent and underdiagnosed disease. Int Ophthalmol 29:67–74

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Gupta V, Arora S, Gupta A, Ram J, Bambery P, Sehgal S (1998) Management of presumed intraocular tuberculosis: possible role of the polymerase chain reaction. Acta Ophthalmol Scand 76:679–682

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gupta V, Gupta A, Rao NA (2007) Intraocular tuberculosis-an update. Surv Ophthalmol 52:561–587

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Mercanti A, Parolini B, Bonora A, Lequaglie Q, Tomazzoli L (2001) Epidemiology of endogenous uveitis in north-eastern Italy. Analysis of 655 new cases. Acta Ophthalmol Scand 79:64–68

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Pivetti-Pezzi P, Accorinti M, La Cava M, Colabelli Gisoldi RA, Abdulaziz MA (1996) Endogenous uveitis: an analysis of 1, 417 cases. Ophthalmologica 10:234–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Chang JH, Wakefield D (2002) Uveitis: a global perspective. Ocular Immunol Inflamm 10:263–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Sugita M, Enomoto Y, Nakamura S et al. (1993) Epidemiological study on endogenous uveitis in Japan. In: Recent advances in uveitis, Kugler, Amsterdam, pp 161–163

  18. Kotake S, Furudate N, Sasamoto Y, Yoshikawa K, Goda C, Matsuda H (1997) Characteristics of endogenous uveitis in Hokkaido, Japan. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 235:5–9

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Biswas J, Narain S, Das D, Ganesh SK (1996) Pattern of uveitis in a referral uveitis clinic in India. Int Ophthalmol 20:223–228

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Rodriguez A, Calonge M, Pedroza-Seres M, Akova YA, Messmer EM, D’Amico DJ, Foster CS (1996) Referral patterns of uveitis in a tertiary eye care center. Arch Ophthalmol 114:593–599

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Merrill PT, Kim J, Cox TA, Betor CC, McCallum RM, Jaffe GJ (1997) Uveitis in the southeastern United States. Curr Eye Res 16:865–874

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. McCannel CA, Holland GN, Helm CJ, Cornell PJ, Winston JV, Rimmer TG (1996) Causes of uveitis in the general practice of ophthalmology. UCLA Community-based Uveitis Study Group. Am J Ophthalmol 121:35–46

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Rothova A, Buitenhuis HJ, Meenken C, Brinkman CJ, Linssen A, Alberts C, Luyendijk L, Kijlstra A (1992) Uveitis and systemic disease. Br J Ophthalmol 76:137–141

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Paivonsalo-Hietanen T, Vaahtoranta-Lehtonen H, Tuominen J, Saari KM (1994) Uveitis survey at the University Eye Clinic in Turku. Acta Ophthalmol Copenh 72:505–512

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Palmares J, Coutinho MF, Castro-Correia J (1990) Uveitis in northern Portugal. Curr Eye Res 9(Suppl):31–34

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Wakefield D, Dunlop I, McCluskey PJ, Penny R (1986) Uveitis: aetiology and disease associations in an Australian population. Aust NZ J Ophthalmol 14:181–187

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Perkins ES, Folk J (1984) Uveitis in London and Iowa. Ophthalmologica 189:36–40

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Rathinam SR, Namperumalsamy P (2007) Global variation and pattern changes in epidemiology of uveitis. Ind J Ophthalmol 55:173–183

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Jakob E, Reuland MS, Mackensen F, Harsch N, Fleckenstein M, Lorenz HM, Max R, Becker MD (2009) Uveitis subtypes in a German interdisciplinary uveitis center-analysis of 1916 patients. J Rheumatol 36:127–136

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kazokoglu H, Onal S, Tugal-Tutkun I, Mirza E, Akova Y, Ozyazgan Y, Soylu M, Batioglu F, Apaydin C (2008) Demographic and clinical features of uveitis in tertiary centers in Turkey. Ophthal Epidemiol 15:285–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Islam SM, Tabbara KF (2002) Causes of uveitis at the Eye Center in Saudi Arabia: a retrospective review. Ophthal Epidemiol 9:239–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Gritz DC, Wong IG (2004) Incidence and prevalence of uveitis in Northern California; the Northern California Epidemiology of Uveitis Study. Ophthalmology 111:491–500

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Suhler EB, Lloyd MJ, Choi D, Rosenbaum JT, Austin DF (2008) Incidence and prevalence of uveitis in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers of the Pacific Northwest. Am J Ophthalmol. 146:890-6.e8

    Google Scholar 

  34. Khairallah M, Yahia SB, Ladjimi A, Messaoud R, Zaouali S, Attia S, Jenzeri S, Jelliti B (2007) Pattern of uveitis in a referral centre in Tunisia, North Africa. Eye 21:33–39

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. de Visser L, Braakenburg A, Rothova A, de Boer JH (2008) Rubella virus-associated uveitis: clinical manifestations and visual prognosis. Am J Ophthalmol 146:292–297

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Birnbaum AD, Tessler HH, Schultz KL, Farber MD, Gao W, Lin P, Oh F, Goldstein DA (2007) Epidemiologic relationship between Fuchs heterochromic iridocyclitis and the United States rubella vaccination program. Am J Ophthalmol 144:447–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Bodaghi B, Cassoux N, Wechsler B, Hannouche D, Fardeau C, Papo T, Huong DL, Piette JC, LeHoang F (2001) Etiology and visual outcome in 927 patients from a single center. Medicine (Baltimore) 80:263–270

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Immunology Eye Unit, Eye Clinic, Ospedale S.M. Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    L. Cimino, C. A. Zotti & L. Cappuccini

  2. Institute of Ophthalmology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    R. Aldigeri

  3. Department of Rheumatology, Ospedale S.M. Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    C. Salvarani & L. Boiardi

  4. Laboratory of Microbiology, Ospedale S.M. Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    M. Parmeggiani

  5. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Ospedale S.M. Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    B. Casali

Authors
  1. L. Cimino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Aldigeri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. Salvarani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. A. Zotti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. L. Boiardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Parmeggiani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. B. Casali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. L. Cappuccini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. Cimino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cimino, L., Aldigeri, R., Salvarani, C. et al. The causes of uveitis in a referral centre of Northern Italy. Int Ophthalmol 30, 521–529 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-010-9359-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-010-9359-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation