Uveitis and Systematic Diseases
Uveitis is the inflammation of the uvea or middle, vascular layer of eye. Uvea consists of the iris, ciliary body and the choroid
Uveitis & associated systemic diseases
Although uveitis can occur due to various reasons but majority of its cases are idiopathic (cause is not known). In fact, it is also found to be associated with certain systemic diseases like:
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Behcet’s disease
- Chronic granulomatous disease
- Enteritis
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
- Kawasaki’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Polyarteritis nodosa
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Reactive arthritis
- Sarcoidosis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome
- Whipple’s disease
Newer treatment modalities for Uveitis
The immediate treatment for almost every type of uveitis is based on steroids and immunosuppressant. But these have systemic side effects and this limits their clinical application. Ophthalmologists feel compelled to use them to give relief to the patient but also get restricted due to their systemic side effects.
Now due to better understanding of the disease, various advancements are going on to strengthen the treatment of uveitis that would better control the disorder and won’t cause much side effects to the patient. This includes the following:
- Intravitreal implants
- Intravitreal injection of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- Intravitreal injection of methotrexate
- Fluocinolone acetonide (FA) implant named Retisert
- Biologic agents like:
- TNF-α Antagonists
- Monoclonal antibodies like adalimumab and infliximab
- Gene therapy
- RNA interference
