P459 The prevalence and characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease-related ocular involvement in children

Abstract

Background Ocular manifestations (OM) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are uncommon, particularly in children. We aimed to explore the prevalence, characteristics and risk factors of IBD associated OM in a large epidemiologic cohort-based study. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed using the Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) database. The eligible population included all patients diagnosed with IBD as children (<18 years) between January 2005 and July 2023. An additional analysis was conducted on patients diagnosed with ocular disease during childhood (<18 years) and IBD during childhood or adulthood. Results Out of 2,567 children with IBD (males 55%, Crohn’s disease 64%), 78 (3%) were diagnosed with OM at any time during disease course. In 54 patients (69%), the OM occurred after IBD diagnosis with a median time of 2.6 (0.47-7) years between the two events, whereas in 24 patients (31%) OM preceded IBD diagnosis with a median time of 2.1 (0.6-5.7) years. OM was significantly associated with Crohn’s disease, compared with ulcerative colitis (78.2% vs. 63.6% in the entire cohort; p=0.03). The presence of OM was associated with increased usage of systemic corticosteroids (p<0.001), biologic agents (p=0.04) and longer duration since IBD diagnosis (p=0.04). There were 55 patients with OM during childhood who were ever diagnosed with IBD. In this population OM was also associated with increased usage of systemic corticosteroids (p<0.001) and increased hospitalization rate per year (p=0.048). The annual prevalence of OM increased gradually from 10/1000 patients in 2005 to 22/1000 patients in 2022 (p=0.55). Conclusion Ocular involvement in children with IBD is rare and more common in patients with Crohn’s disease with a stable prevalence rate. It is associated with a longer duration of disease, greater usage of systemic corticosteroids and biologic agents and with a higher rate of hospitalizations, potentially representing a more severe disease course.