Visual prognosis and risk factors for Korean patients with Behcet uveitis

Abstract

PURPOSE: Visual prognosis was evaluated in Korean Behcet uveitis patients. The study investigated factors associated with poor visual outcome, and the effect of various treatments on recurrence-free duration.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was undertaken on 99 consecutive Behcet uveitis patients (168 eyes). Visual prognosis was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves, and Cox's proportional hazard regression analysis was used to identify risk factors.

RESULTS: Visual acuity at the first visit (<0.5), presence of vasculitis, male gender, and posterior/panuveitis type were associated with poor visual prognosis. Visual acuity at the first visit was found to be the most significant risk factor (hazard ratio = 7.392, p = 0.007). Analysis of 9 different treatment modalities showed patients treated with steroids had longer recurrence-free periods than those not treated with steroids (p = 0.0053, t test).

CONCLUSION: Whilethe long-term visual prognosis for Behcet uveitis may be affected by many factors, the initial visual acuity appears to be the most significant. Treatments involving steroids appear to decrease the frequency of uveitis recurrence