Clinical Patterns of Uveitis in Children in Two Ophthalmological Centers in Bogota, Colombia

Abstract

 

Purpose

 

To describe the clinical features of uveitis in pediatric patients treated in two ophthalmological centers in Bogotá, Colombia, in a 13 year-period between January 2000 and July 2013.

 

Methods

 

Retrospective observational and descriptive study. Systematic review of the clinical records of pediatric patients with diagnosis of uveitis at the Fundación Oftalmológica Nacional and at the Uveitis Clinic from Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia. Data was analyzed and compared to previous reports.

 

Results

 

Uveitis was found in 311 children, of which 161 were female (51.8%) and 150 were male (48.2%). Mean age of presentation was 10.1 years. Posterior uveitis was the most common type of uveitis (58.8%), more frequently of insidious onset (77.8%) and chronic course (25.1%). The most common etiology was infectious (58.2%); being toxoplasmosis the most frequent cause (44.6%), followed in by toxocariasis (17.7%). Idiopathic uveitis (33%) was found to be the second one in frequency. Less frequent causes were trauma (3.5%), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (1.9%), Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (1%), spondyloarthropathies (0.3%), sarcoidosis (0.3%), and Eales disease (0.3%). There was a statistically significant difference in visual acuity between anterior (20/67) and intermediate uveitis (20/69), compared to posterior uveitis (20/417) and panuveitis (20/209) (p <0,05).

 

Conclusions

 

This work is the first report of clinical features of uveitis in children in Colombia. Infectious etiologies, especially parasitic diseases, are the main cause of uveitis in pediatric population in our country. This study will improve awareness and knowledge of pediatric uveitis in under-development countries, and it would contribute to the improvement of public health policies of pediatric visual-health.