PREVALENCE AND PATTERN OF OCULAR INVOLVEMENT IN PATIENTS ATTENDING ALEXANDRIA UNIVERSITY RHEUMATOLOGY CLINIC: A Pilot study

Ocular involvement is well known in most rheumatic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, Behçet disease, anti-phospholipid syndrome and others. Their clinical expression and outcome vary between different populations. Although there are epidemiological studies on uveitis from different geographic areas, registry of pattern of eye affection among rheumatic patients in Egypt is highly deficient. Objective: To identify the prevalence and pattern of immune eye involvement in patients referred to Alexandria University outpatient rheumatology clinic during the period from January to December 2014. Methods: A cross sectional analysis of a cohort of 1500 patients with immune diseases attending the outpatient rheumatology clinic. 100 patients had relevant eye complaints. The demographic features, clinical presentations, pattern and modes of treatment of eye involvement were registered . Results: 59 % were females. Mean age was 39.26 years and the mean duration of systemic disease was 41 months. Mean duration of eye disease was 30 months. Behcet’s disease was the most common identifiable cause of uveitis (24%) followed by JIA (6%) and VKH (5%). Idiopathic anterior uveitis was the most common uveitic entity, 32% of cases. Forteen percent needed intraocular steroid injections. Topical and systemic steroids were added in 58%, synthetic or biological DMARDs in 14%, and surgery in 14%of the patients. Conclusions: Ocular complications are common among rheumatic patients. Awareness of the possibility of serious eye involvement should always be kept in mind. Routine ophthalmological evaluation of patients with any rheumatic disease is mandatory & should be stressed upon in all recommendations in rheumatology.