Clinical Features and Risk Factors of Uveitis in Korean Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Abstract

This study investigated the clinical features and risk factors of uveitis in Korean children having juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Medical records of JIA patients who were diagnosed between 2006 and 2019 and followed up for ≥1 year were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were classified into two groups by the development of JIA-associated uveitis (JIA-U), and various factors were analyzed for the risk of developing uveitis. JIA-U developed in 30 (9.8%) of 306 JIA patients. Mean age at the first uveitis occurrence was 12.4 ± 5.7 years, which was 5.6 ± 3.7 years after the JIA diagnosis. The common JIA subtypes in the uveitis group were oligoarthritis-persistent (33.3%) and enthesitis-related arthritis (30.0%). The patients with oligoarthritis-persistent developed JIA-U more frequently than those without (20.0% vs. 7.8%; P = 0.016), and those with systemic arthritis developed uveitis less than those without (3.6% vs. 12.2%; P = 0.024). The uveitis group had baseline knee joint involvement more frequently (76.7% vs. 51.4%), which increased the risk of uveitis during follow-up (P = 0.008). The final visual acuity of JIA-U was tolerable (0.041 ± 0.103 logMAR). In Korean children with JIA, JIA-U may be associated with oligoarthritis-persistent subtype and the knee joint involvement.