Referral Patterns of Uveitis in a Tertiary Eye Care Center

Pattern of uveitis in a referral centre in Tunisia, North Africa

“…This rate is similar to that observed in studies from USA 15,33 and South European countries, 13 lower than that found in Northern Europe, 10,17 and higher than that reported in studies from Japan. 35 This discrepancy probably reflects racial differences in the frequency of HLA-B27 in the general population.…”

“…However, the mean age at presentation in our study (34 years) appeared to be younger than that found in most previous reports (approximately 40 years). 9,12,14,15 The rate of children in our uveitis population (10%) was slightly higher than most estimates from previous studies. [30][31][32] Data from referral centres revealed that anterior uveitis was the most common form of uveitis (27.8-63%), followed by posterior (9.3-38%) or panuveitis (7-38%), and intermediate uveitis (4-17%).…”

“…Results of previous studies showed that VKH disease was more common in Japan and less common in most Western countries. 15,19,35 Ocular toxoplasmosis, Behçet's disease, and VKH disease, three of the four most frequent causes of uveitis in our series, typically present as posterior uveitis or panuveitis. This could explain the high rate of these two forms of uveitis in our patients.…”

“…Our percentage (1.7%) was similar to that reported in previous studies, 10,12 but lower than that found in others. 15,39 This discrepancy might be explained by racial and geographic factors, and also by a variable difficulty in diagnosing sarcoidosis.…”

“…Numerous studies on pattern of uveitis in various geographic regions from Western countries and Asia have been published, showing similarities and distinct differences in epidemiologic profiles and aetiologies of uveitis. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Data on uveitis from Africa are scarce, 23,24 and there is a lack of studies from the North African region.…”