GLOBAL ISSUES

Uveitis in a tertiary ophthalmology centre in Thailand

K Pathanapitoon¹, P Kunavisarut¹, S Ausayakhun¹, W Sirirungsi² and A Rothova³

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
² Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
³ Uveitis Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands

Correspondence to:
Dr K Pathanapitoon, Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, 110 Intawaroros Road, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; kpathana{at}mail.med.cmu.ac.th

Purpose: To determine the aetiology and clinical characteristics of patients with uveitis in a tertiary ophthalmology centre in northern Thailand.

Methods: Standard ophthalmological examination and laboratory screening blood tests were performed in 200 consecutive new patients with uveitis. Patients were classified according to the location and aetiology of the uveitis. Specific clinical characteristics were recorded.

Design: Prospective case series.

Results: The case series included 106 male and 94 female patients with a mean age of 38 years. HIV-associated uveitis was noted in 31% (62/200), and included mostly patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis (85%, 53/62). In the non-HIV group, the most common anatomical type was anterior uveitis (34%, 47/138). Infectious uveitis was diagnosed in 22% (30/138) of non-HIV patients, and toxoplasmosis was the most common infection (12/138, 8.7%). The most common non-infectious clinical entities were Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease (20%, 22/108) and HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis (9%, 10/108).

Conclusions: The spectrum of uveitis in northern Thailand included 27% of HIV-infected patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis. Causes of non-HIV uveitis were similar to those often observed in the Far East, but the specific prevalences of these disorders were distinct from that found in India and Japan.

Funding: Supported in part by combined grants from the Dr P Binkhorst Foundation for Ophthalmologic Research, Nijmegen, Landelijke stichting voor Blinden en Slechtzienden, Utrecht, Rotterdamse Vereniging Blindenbelangen, Rotterdam, Stichting voor Ooglijders, Rotterdam, Katholieke Stichting voor Blinden en Slechtzienden, Grave, Stichting Oog, ‘s Gravenzande, and Dr F P Fischer Stichting, Amersfoort, The Netherlands.

Competing interests: None declared.

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