Uveitis and neurological diseases
- Correspondence to: Lynn K Gordon Jules Stein Eye Institute, 100 Stein Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; lgordonucla.edu
Therapeutic and diagnostic challenges
Systemic disease associations in uveitis are widespread, ranging from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, to demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis.1–3 In some cases, the systemic disease is diagnosed before onset of uveitis, whereas in others uveitis is the initial presentation of the underlying or associated condition. Two significant questions arise regarding neurological concomitants of uveitis. What is the incidence and identity of neurological diseases seen in individuals with uveitis? Are there particular clues in the clinical examination of an individual patient with uveitis that would help lead to diagnosing an associated neurological condition? In the current issue of BJO (p 1498), Smith and Rosenbaum attempt to address these important questions through a retrospective analysis of 1450 patients examined in a tertiary care uveitis clinic.
Increased use of biological agents such as the tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) inhibitors intensifies the relevance of this study. Targeted immunotherapy for specific immune mediated diseases is rapidly advancing. The immune tolerance network (ITN) is an international consortium with investigators from more than nine countries with the goal of developing clinical therapies for …
