An Analysis of the clinical and investigative profile of uveitis in the elderly: First case series from India

PURPOSE: To evaluate the spectrum of uveitis occurring after 60 years of age in elderly patients who presented to a tertiary care eye center in India. METHODS: Retrospective study of patients who visited a tertiary eye care institute between January 2010 and July 2020. RESULT: Eighty-seven patients developed uveitis after 60 years, with only 44.8% having sufficient follow-up documentation and were included in the final analysis. The median age of these patients was 64 (IQR: 62-70) years, and 69% of them were male. Among the identifiable causes of uveitis, infectious uveitis (36%) was the most common and noninfectious uveitis was noted in 23% of patients. The most common subtype of uveitis was anterior uveitis (52%), followed by intermediate uveitis (32%), panuveitis (11%), and posterior uveitis (7%). Tuberculosis (28%) was the most common cause in our cohort, followed by HLA B27 (10%), sarcoid (8%), and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (5%). In 41% of patients, a definitive diagnosis of uveitis could not be achieved, and the anterior uveitis group had the highest number of undifferentiated uveitis cases. There were no undifferentiated cases of uveitis in the posterior and panuveitis category. The median follow-up period of these patients was 52 (15-91) months and 66% of eyes had recurrence. A statistically significant improvement in vision was seen in anterior uveitis and panuveitis groups, whereas the median visual acuity of the intermediate uveitis group remained stable throughout the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Uveitis in the elderly can have a higher recurrence rate; however, the lack of follow-up in these groups of patients is a major challenge.