Purpose To describe the incidence of and risk factors for visual acuity (VA) loss and ocular complications in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis. Design Multicenter retrospective cohort study. Participants 327 patients (596 affected eyes) with JIA-associated uveitis managed at five tertiary uveitis clinics in the United States. Methods Participants were identified from the Systemic Immunosuppressive Therapy for Eye Diseases (SITE) Cohort Study. Demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained for every eye of every patient at every visit via medical record review by trained expert reviewers. Main Outcome Measures Loss of VA to 20/50 or to 20/200 or worse thresholds and the development of ocular complications. Results At presentation, 240 (40.3%) eyes had a VA of 20/50 or worse; 144 (24.2%) had a VA of 20/200 or worse; 359 (60.2%) had at least one ocular complication. The incidences of VA loss to the 20/50 or worse and 20/200 or worse thresholds were 0.18 and 0.09 per eye-year (EY), respectively; the incidence of developing at least one new ocular complication over follow-up was 0.15/EY (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13/EY, 0.17/EY). However, among eyes with uveitis that had no complications at presentation, the rate of developing at least one ocular complication during follow up was lower (0.04/EY, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.06). Posterior synechiae, active uveitis, and prior intraocular surgery were statistically significantly associated with VA to the 20/50 or worse and 20/200 or worse thresholds, both at presentation and during follow-up. Increasing (time-updated) anterior chamber cell grade was associated with increased rates of visual loss in a dose-dependent fashion. Use of immunosuppressive drugs was associated with a reduced the risk of visual loss, particularly for the 20/50 or worse outcome (hazard ratio = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.75, P<0.01). Conclusions Ocular complications and vision loss were common in our cohort. Increasing uveitis activity was associated with increased risk of vision loss and use of immunosuppressive drugs was associated with reduced risk of vision loss suggesting that control of inflammation and use of immunosuppression may be critical aspects in improving the outcomes of patients with JIA-related uveitis.

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