Patterns of Uveitis at a Tertiary Referral Center in Southern Iran

Purpose: to ascertain the patterns of uveitis at motahari uveitis clinic, shiraz university of medical sciences, a tertiary referral center in shiraz, southern iran. methods: all new cases of uveitis referred from june 2005 to july 2011 to our center were consecutively enrolled in the study. after taking a complete history of systemic and ocular diseases, all patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination including determination of snellen visual acuity, slit lamp biomicroscopy, applanation tonometry and dilated fundus examination. patients were classified according to international uveitis study group definitions. results: a total of 475 subjects were evaluated; mean age at the onset of uveitis was 30.5 ±15.14 years. uveitis was unilateral in 292 (61.4%) and bilateral in 183 (38.6%) patients. anterior uveitis was the most common type of inflammation (190 patients, 40%), followed by posterior uveitis (133 patients, 28%), panuveitis (99 patients, 20.8%) and intermediate uveitis (53 patients, 11.1%). a specific cause was found in 295 patients (61.9%). hla-b27 negative was the most common cause of anterior uveitis (84 patients, 44.2%), behcet’s disease was the most common etiology of panuveitis (34 cases, 34.3%) and toxoplasmosis was the most common cause of posterior uveitis (56 patients, 42.1%). the great majority of intermediate uveitis cases were idiopathic (49 patients, 92.4%). conclusion: the most common type of uveitis in southern iran is anterior. the most common underlying disorders are hla-b27 negative, toxoplasmosis and behcet’s disease.