Abstract
Purpose: :
To describe the first series of patients developing uveitis in association with sickle cell trait /sickle cell anemia.
Methods: :
Retrospective chart review, looking for associated ocular and systemic conditions and characteristics of uveitis and its response to therapy seen at a tertiary center.
Results: :
Four patients, two males and two females, with a mean age of 43.5 (range 27 – 66) developed iritis in the setting of sickle cell anemia (one patient) or sickle cell trait (three patients.) These patients had a mean follow–up of 9 months (range 1–31 months) and active inflammation for a mean period of 9 months. One patient had prior history of hypertension; none of them had history of arthritis, sarcoidosis, or inflammatory disease. Characteristics of uveitis included recurrent acute episodes in two cases, acute single episode in one case, and chronic iritis in the fourth patient. There was good response to topical steroids in all cases except in one patient with panuveitis, who required oral prednisone. Visual acuity was maintained in three patients. The fourth patient, with elevated homocysteine and history of CRVO, had progressive deterioration of visual acuity. Uveitis was under control in all the patients during the most recent visit.
Conclusions: :
Acute uveitis responsive to topical steroid therapy can develop in patients with sickle cell anemia or sickle cell trait in patients with otherwise negative uveitis work up. Larger prospective studies would be required to make more definitive and statistically significant conclusions.
Keywords: imaging/image analysis: clinical