Risk Factors for Ocular Complications and Visual Loss in Patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis-associated Uveitis at a Turkish Tertiary Ophthalmology and Pediatric Rheumatology Referral Center.

Purpose: To investigate the rates of ocular complications and visual loss and their risk factors in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) -associated uveitis.

Methods: Medical records of 51 patients were reviewed.

Results: The incidence of visual loss to the 20/50 or worse was found to be 0026/ eye-year (EY) in the present study. Cataract and ocular hypertension occurred during the follow-up period and were significantly associated with visual acuity loss to 20/50 or worse (p = .008, HR 11.932, 95% CI 1.915-74.355; p = .03, HR 7.323, 95% CI 1.216-44.110, respectively). Anti-TNF therapy was initiated in 88.2% of our cases and 93.3% of them achieved uveitis inactivity.

Conclusion: The risk of vision loss is higher in patients with JIA-associated uveitis who had complications at presentation. We attribute the lower complication rates and better visual outcomes in our study to the early and frequent use of biologic agents.