Abstract
Purpose :
To report on frequency of positive QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) assays among uveitis patients and determine whether differences exist in clinical characteristics between QFT-G positive and negative patients.
Methods :
Retrospective chart review was performed to examine 263 new patients with uveitis who received QFT-G assays as a standard laboratory work-up under a clinical research protocol at a tertiary hospital in a non-endemic location. We analyzed patient demographics such as gender, race, age at presentation to tertiary center, QFT-G test results, and anatomic locations of uveitis.
Results :
QFT-G test was positive in 36/263 patients (13.69%). Mean age at presentation was 48.8 years for QFT-G positive patients (median: 49.5, range: 21-76); for QFT-G negative patients, 44 years (median 44, range 9-91) (p=0.14). Both QFT-G-positive and QFT-G-negative groups had the same male-to-female ratio, 1:1.2. Non-Hispanic Whites were less likely to test positive on QFT-G (OR,0.2; 95% CI, 0.09-0.49; p=0.004) whereas Asians were more likely to test positive (OR, 3.1; 95%CI, 1.39-7.04, p=0.0059). In terms of anatomic location of uveitis, patients tested positive with QFT-G were more likely to have anterior uveitis (OR, 2.5; 95%CI, 1.17-5.31; p=0.02) compared to those who tested negative. There was no difference for posterior uveitis (OR, 0.81; 95%CI, 0.37-1.78), intermediate (OR,0.40; 95%CI, 0.13-1.16; p=0.60), panuveitis (OR,0.58; 95%CI, 0.25-1.33; p=0.20), or retinal vasculitis (OR,1.5; 95%CI, 0.17-12.74; p=0.72).
Conclusions :
In this cohort from a non-endemic tertiary center, we found that 13.69% of new uveitis patients tested QFG-T-positive. There were no differences in age at presentation, sex, the prevalence of posterior segment uveitis, and retinal vasculitis. Patients who tested QFT-G positive were more likely to have anterior uveitis. Asians were more likely to test positive for QTF-G.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.