Objective: This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) for detecting and following up scleritis and episcleritis.
Design: The study design was a case series.
Participants: Patients with scleral inflammatory diseases (n = 16) were examined.
Intervention: Patient-reported problems and slit-lamp and UBM (50-MHz transducer) findings were compared retrospectively for signs of scleral inflammation.
Main outcome measures: Thickness, reflectivity, and homogeneity of the sclera and episclera were the criteria for discriminating between the different types of scleritis with the UBM technique.
Results: Scleral disease was associated with Wegener disease (n = 3), Cogan disease (n = 1), Hashimoto thyroiditis (n = 1), myositis (n = 1), or panuveitis (n = 1). Initial slit-lamp evaluation showed episcleritis (n = 3), diffuse scleritis (n = 9), nodular scleritis (n = 3), or necrotizing scleritis (n = 1). By means of UBM analysis, the diagnosis of episcleritis or scleritis was in agreement with the slit-lamp findings in 2 of 3 and 6 of 13 cases, respectively. In contrast to the slit-lamp diagnosis, UBM studies excluded scleritis in one patient, disclosed necrosis in four patients with scleritis, and detected nodular scleritis patterns in two further patients with diffuse scleritis. The determination of complete remission, improvement, or progression of disease by slit-lamp and UBM evaluation was in agreement in 11 of the 14 patients examined. However, UBM was superior to slit-lamp examination with respect to detecting scleral necrosis, scleral thinning, or the nodular type of scleritis.
Conclusions: The findings indicate that UBM is helpful in rapidly differentiating scleritis from severe episcleritis, detecting the diverse scleritis types with high accuracy, disclosing minimal disease progression, and judging treatment efficacy.