Uveitis is a rare inflammatory condition involving structures inside the eye, which causes as much as 10% of legal blindness in the United States. In childhood, uveitis can be chronic and aggressive, requiring years of systemic immunosuppressive medications. Contrary to the common medical myth that all uveitis has a cause which must be found before treatment can be initiated — leading many parents to delay treatment — approximately three-quarters of childhood uveitis is idiopathic.
To better understand the condition, Ying Qian, MD, ophthalmologist with KP East Bay and uveitis specialist, undertook one of the largest longitudinal, population based studies to date of childhood uveitis.
“She wanted to answer these questions not only to help her own practice, but also for the practice of pediatric ophthalmology in general,” says John W. Morehouse, MD, FACEP, physician-in-chief of KP East Bay.
Dr. Qian reviewed the electronic medical records of 1,643 KP Northern California uveitis patients aged 16 and younger, over a 10-year period. Her study, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, found that about half of children with newly diagnosed, chronic, noninfectious uveitis were in remission within 5 years. Those diagnosed at the youngest ages were least likely to be in remission within 5 years, and the chances of achieving remission increased with age at diagnosis.
“Dr. Qian’s study is a wonderful example of how we can change the understanding of a disease by studying what happens to patients in community-based settings with long-term follow-up — as in KP — rather than referral based settings whose populations are often skewed,” says Betty Suh-Burgmann, MD, chair of the KP Northern California Central Research Committee.
“This study provides important clarity for children and families navigating a complex condition that can lead to childhood blindness,” says Rita Ng, MD, FACC, physician in-chief of KP East Bay. “It gives clinicians and families a better roadmap for treatment decisions and long-term care.”