Abstract
Purpose :
To describe characteristics of a cohort of patients diagnosed with scleritis and episcleritis at a tertiary care center.
Methods :
Retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with scleritis or episcleritis at the Manhattan Eye Ear, Throat Hospital from July 2018 to September 2022 under one uveitis specialist. Outcome measures included prevalence in age groups, sex, laterality, associated disease, co-existence with uveitis, use of NSAID, prednisone, or immunomodulatory therapy (IMT), and visual outcome.
Results :
Two hundred thirty-two patients were analyzed. 24.9% of patients had episcleritis, and 75.1% had scleritis. The most affected age group in this cohort were 60 and over, accounting for 41.8% of patients. 73.3% of patients were female. 50.9% of patients had bilateral involvement. 48.7% of the cohort were idiopathic (i.e. no associated autoimmune condition), but episcleritis was more often idiopathic than scleritis patients (67.2% vs 48.7%). Uveitis was additionally present in 29.4% of patients. Most episcleritis were only treated topically; those who had used prednisone or IMT were on it for systemic disease or uveitis. 49.4% of scleritis patients were treated with prednisone; 49.4% were treated with IMT, with 52.2% of scleritis patients on IMT primarily for their scleritis. Most patients (84.6%) had unaffected vision, but 8.3% had reduced vision, usually from either very severe scleritis or associated uveitis or other eye conditions.
Conclusions :
Our results resemble characteristics of scleritis and episcleritis reported by other centers: female predominance, older age than ‘typical’ uveitis patients, and scleritis having higher association with systemic autoimmune disease than episcleritis. Patients with scleritis are often on IMT for associated systemic autoimmune disease, but many patients required treatment specifically for their scleritis. Visual outcomes trended much better in this cohort compared to outcomes reported for uveitis.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.