Etiologies and Demographic Distribution of Uveitis in a Referral Center in Iraq

Purpose:  To determine the etiologies and demographic distribution of uveitis in a referral center in Baghdad, Iraq, and to compare the results with a similar study done in the same center in 2014. Study Design:  Descriptive observational study. Place and Duration of Study:  Ibn Al-Haitham Teaching Eye Hospital, Iraq, from January 2019 to June 2022. Patients and Methods:  Two hundred and fourteen patients with uveitis were included. They underwent complete ocular and relevant systemic examination. Data was collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Comparison was done with the data retrieved from 2014. Results:  Out of 264 patients, only 214 (81%) completed follow up. Others did not show up again due to Corona virus Pandemic. There were 122 (57%) females, 95 (44.3%) were unilateral, 62 (28.9%) were granulomatous, 62 (28.9%) were anterior, 42 (19.6%) were intermediate, 4 (1.8%) were posterior and 106 (49.7%) were panuveitis cases. Cause was identified in 161 (75.3%) patients while 53 (24.7%) were considered idiopathic. Out of 214 patients, 84 (39.2%) were due to infectious causes like tuberculosis, herpes (herpes zoster or simplex viruses), and toxoplasmosis. On the other hand, 130 (60.7%) cases were non-infectious for example, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, Behcet disease, connective tissue diseases such as Ankylosing Spondylitis, or idiopathic. Conclusion:  A minor change was found from the 2014 study to 2023. Tuberculosis is now the most common cause of infectious uveitis instead of Toxoplasmosis. Furthermore, Idiopathic, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada, and Behcet disease are the commonest causes of non-infectious uveitis.