Abstract
Purpose :
Multiple studies have discussed the association between myopia and several eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and other ocular diseases. However, there is no clinical study to investigate the relationship between myopia and uveitis. We aim to assess the relationship between myopia and uveitis by comparing axial lengths of uveitis patients with controls.
Methods :
This retrospective study included 1,052 eyes (663 patients; 288 males and 375 females; mean age, 54.0 years) with uveitis referred to Tokyo Medical University Hospital. Out of 1,052 eyes, 808 eyes (76.8%, group A) were diagnosed with non-infectious uveitis, and 146 eyes (13.9%, group B) with infectious uveitis. In group A, 428 eyes were diagnosed with identifiable non-infectious uveitis comprising sarcoidosis (176 eyes, 16.7%), Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (122 eyes, 11.6%), and Behçet’s disease (130 eyes, 12.4%). In group B, the top two diagnosed diseases were acute retinal necrosis (55 eyes, 5.2%) and herpetic anterior uveitis (22 eyes, 2.4%). For the control group, 738 eyes without ocular diseases other than cataract, were selected. Axial length was measured by the IOL Master or conventional A-mode ultrasound system before cataract surgery. The mean axial lengths of two uveitis groups were separately compared with that of the control group.
Results :
The mean axial length of group A was 24.00mm, and the mean of group B was 24.59mm. The mean axial lengths of both groups were significantly shorter than that of the control group (24.71mm, P<0.0001, P=0.05, respectively).
Conclusions :
The mean axial length of uveitis with or without infection was significantly shorter than that of the control group. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding. Nevertheless, we suggest that shorter axial length is associated with a higher risk of developing uveitis, and it should be taken into consideration for discovering new aspects of the pathogenesis of uveitis.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.