Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis: a retrospective analysis from a centre of South Italy

Abstract

Purpose To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of the children affected by juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who developed uveitis. Methods In this retrospective study, we have examined data of 109 patients aged from 3 to 16 years, affected by JIA and followed at Paediatrics Rheumatology Clinic and Ophthalmology Clinic of University Hospital of Messina in the period from 2007 to 2017. The main outcome measures were clinical and laboratory findings related to JIA and ocular involvement. The prevalence of ocular signs and symptoms was determined and correlated with age. Results Twenty-one (19.3%) subjects developed uveitis. Two different peaks of age with ocular involvement were registered. The first occurred between 4 and 6 years and the second between 10 and 12 years. All subjects in the first group resulted to be female, presented oligoarticular arthritis and chronic anterior uveitis. In the second group, the 84% of patients were male with different types of JIA and acute anterior uveitis. The prevalence of ocular complications was higher in the first group. Conclusions Two peaks of age emerged and were characterized by different clinical outcomes of arthritis and ocular involvement. The first occurred between 4 and 6 years and interested females affected by oligoarticular JIA who develop chronic anterior uveitis. The second appeared at 10-12 years and interested older males affected by different types of JIA with acute anterior uveitis. Early diagnosis and cooperation between paediatric rheumatologist and ophthalmologist are of great importance in the proper management of JIA children with uveitis.

Clinical features in 305 patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A single center Turkish Study

“…The uveitis rate in the present study was 10.0%, whereas a study from Italy reported a uveitis rate of 19.3% 21 . In other studies from Italy and the Netherlands the uveitis rate was 20.1% and 17.6%, respectively 22,23 .…”

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis in the era of biological therapy: how the disease changed in 14 years of observation in a tertiary referral center in Rome (Italy)

“…Althought, Castagna I et al evidenced two different peaks of age for the ocular involvement, the rst occurred between 4 and 6 years old and the second between 10 and 12 years old. Also Hoeve M et al [32] described a second peak around puberty.…”

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Associated Uveitis

“…The prevalence of JIA in developed countries is estimated to range between 16-150 per 100,000 [1,3]. The proportion of JIA patients developing uveitis is up to 30% of individuals positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) [4], and 10-20% across all sub-forms of JIA [2,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] (Table 1). While most studies have been performed in primarily White Caucasian cohorts in Western countries, the prevalence of JIA-associated uveitis appears to differ significantly between geographical regions.…”