Ocular involvement in sarcoidosis occurs in ∼40% and the eye is the presenting organ in roughly 20%. The course of ocular disease does not necessarily parallel that of systemic disease. Uveitis is the most common presentation and shows mainly a chronic course; anterior uveitis is associated with better visual prognosis than posterior localization. Painful bilateral anterior granulomatous uveitis most commonly occurs in black patients at younger age, while painless posterior bilateral involvement with peripheral multifocal choroiditis is commonly seen in elderly white females. Patients with posterior uveitis develop often ocular complications and central nervous system involvement. Vitritis, segmental periphlebitis, choroidal granulomas, and peripheral multifocal chorioretinitis are often seen clinical features. Optic nerve involvement is uncommon, but if present, results often in poor visual outcome. Lacrimal gland and conjunctival involvement are also common and present clinically as dry eyes or remain asymptomatic with good visual prognosis. Sarcoidosis-associated uveitis is mostly managed by local treatment with steroid drops or periocular and intraocular steroid injections or with novel intraocular corticosteroid implants. Patients with sight-threatening disease or optic nerve involvement need systemic therapy. Systemic therapy is based on a step-up regimen where corticosteroids are used in the initial phase of the disease and if long-term treatment is required, steroid-sparing immunomodulatory drugs are implemented such as methotrexate or biological agents. Despite the mainly chronic course, need for long-term treatment, and frequent ocular surgeries in the majority of patients, the visual outcome of sarcoidosis-associated uveitis is fairly good if therapy has started on time.

Purpose To describe the visual outcomes and morbidity of newly referred uveitis patients. Methods Retrospective cohort study of 133 newly referred uveitis patients with active uveitis who required care in a tertiary center for at least 1 year. Main outcomes were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at referral and 1 year after referral, duration of visual impairment, systemic medications used, as well as all complications and surgeries during the first year of follow-up. Generalized estimating equation models was used to assess prognosticators for poor BCVA. Results The mean age at onset of uveitis was 43 years. The proportion of patients with at least one eye with BCVA ≤ 0.3 decreased from 35% at referral to 26% (P = 0.45) at 1-year follow-up. The mean duration of visual impairment in the first year after referral was 4 months per affected eye. At 1-year follow-up, bilateral visual impairment was observed in 4% but at least one ocular complication developed in 66% and 30% of patients required at least one intraocular surgery. Systemic immunosuppressive treatment was required in 35% of patients and the mean number of visits to ophthalmologist was 11 per year, while 8% of patients required hospital admission. Prognosticators for poor visual outcome included surgery undergone before referral (odds ratio (OR), 3; 95% CI, 1-11; P = 0.047), visual impairment at referral (OR, 21; 95% CI, Po0.001), and glaucoma before referral (OR, 7; 95% CI, 2-28; P = 0.007). Conclusions Patients with severe uveitis had a favorable BCVA 1 year after referral with only 4% of patients having bilateral visual impairment. This, in contrast to the prolonged duration of visual impairment during the first year of follow-up and the demanding care.

BackgroundRetinal detachment is more common among uveitis patients than in the general population. Here, we aimed to assess the prevalence of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in a uveitis population.MethodsWe retrospectively studied 851 uveitis patients, recording characteristics such as uveitis duration, anatomical location, and cause; RRD occurrence; proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) at presentation; surgical approach; reattachment rate; and initial and final visual acuity (VA).ResultsRRD occurred in 26 patients (3.1%; 29 affected eyes) and was significantly associated with posterior uveitis (p < 0.001), infectious uveitis (p < 0.001), and male gender (p = 0.012). Among cases of infectious uveitis, cytomegalovirus and varicella zoster virus were most commonly associated with RRD development. RRD in non-infectious uveitis was not found to be associated with any specific uveitis entity. The rate of single-operation reattachment was 48%, and the rate of final reattachment was 83%. Mean final VA was 20/125, with 41% of eyes ultimately having a VA of less than 20/200.ConclusionUveitis is a risk factor for RRD development, which carries a poor prognosis.

Objective: To identify the clinical characteristics and prevalence of neoplastic and nonneoplastic inflammatory masquerade syndromes (IMSs) in a tertiary center and determine the useful diagnostic tests.Methods: A retrospective cohort study of consecutive 1906 patients diagnosed with intraocular inflammatory disease.Results: Of all patients initially diagnosed with intraocular inflammatory disease, we identified 116 (6%) patients with noninflammatory causes (neoplastic IMSs in 36/116; 31% and nonneoplastic IMSs in 52/116; 45%). In addition, 26 patients (22%, 1.4% of all) had drug-induced uveitis and 2 (2%, 0.1% of all) had paraneoplastic uveitis. The large B-cell lymphoma was the most common neoplastic IMS (78%), and the major clinical features were presence of cells and floaters in the vitreous (69%) and chorioretinal lesions (33%). The causes of nonneoplastic IMSs included retinal vascular disorders (38%), hereditary retinal diseases (31%), and degenerative ocular disorders (19%). The common clinical manifestations consisted of chorioretinal scars (27%), small white-yellow retinal lesions (17%), and leaking vessels on fluorescein angiography (14%).Conclusion: Noninflammatory causes were determined in 6% of a large population with initial diagnosis of intraocular inflammatory disease. Although neoplastic IMS was commonly characterized by vitreous cells and opacities, most common definitive diagnoses in nonneoplastic IMS encompassed diverse retinal disorders.

Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is an intervention, in which intermittent episodes of ischemia and reperfusion in an organ or tissue distant from the target organ requiring protection, provide armour against lethal ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although the exact mechanisms underlying the protection mediated through RIC have not been clearly established, the release of humoral factors and the activation of neural pathways have been implicated. There is now clinical evidence suggesting that this form of protection can be induced by a simple, noninvasive, and cost-effective procedure such as inflation and deflation of a blood pressure cuff and that this intervention provides increased organ protection in a variety of clinical scenarios, for example, in myocardial infarction. Here we provide an overview of the history and evolution of RIC, the potential mechanisms underlying its protective effects, and published randomized clinical trials in cardiovascular procedures.

Abnormal chest radiographs were found in 15% of patients with active uveitis of unknown origin and onset within 1 year of referral to a tertiary center in the Netherlands. A majority of the abnormal chest radiographs showed findings compatible with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis.

No abstract