Demography and clinical pattern of newly diagnosed uveitis patients in Malaysia

Rajasudha Sawri Rajan; Shelina Oli Mohamed; Mohamad Aziz Salowi; Malaysian Uveitis Study Group; Ministry of Health Malaysia

doi:10.1186/s12348-022-00306-1

Demography and clinical pattern of newly diagnosed uveitis patients in Malaysia

J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2022 Sep 1;12(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s12348-022-00306-1.

Authors

Rajasudha Sawri Rajan¹, Shelina Oli Mohamed², Mohamad Aziz Salowi³; Malaysian Uveitis Study Group; Ministry of Health Malaysia

Collaborators

Shakira Jeffrey, Farah Ibtisam Ibrahim, Wan Dalila Wan Hazmy, Vinuthinee Naidu Munisamy Naidu, Josephine Lee Oon Hui, Nurul Ashikin Abdullah, Nur Hafidza Asiff, Mohd Faizal Haron, Caroline Binson, Tan Li Mun, Niki Ho, Nazima Bt Shadaht Ali, Muhammad Najmi Khairuddin, Chong Ka Lung, Izzati Othman, Matthew Tong Jong Haw, Abdul Hadi Bin Rosli, Siti Ilyana Binti Ghani, Zunaina Embong, Chiang Wai Seng, Viona Lai Mi Shan, Teh Wee Min, Lee Wei Wei, Justin Yeak Dieu Siang, Tajunisah Iqbal, Nurul Fatin Fadzlullah Shuhaimi, Indira Nadras, Chan Li Yen, Melinder Kaur, Noor Widyani, Chiang Wai Seng, Rosiah Muda, Mandy Cheong Moon Yee, Hafiza Yaacob, Tengku NorinaTengku Jaffar, Abdah Azimah, Foo Lee Min, Norazizah Mohd Amin, Krishnalatha Buandasan, Aasiah Ahmad Sharifuddin, Atikah Asini, Gayathri Govindasamy, Hayati Abd Aziz, Krishnadevi Thiyagarajam, Goh Siew Yuen, Muhammad Yusuf Abdurrahman, Nandini Vijaya Singham, Sangeeta Kuganasan, Wan Mohd Hafidz Wan Abd Rahman, Patricia Ann, Noor Khairul Rasid, Ng Hui Ruan, Goh Chon Han, Ngim You Siang, Siti Farhah Adilah, Hamisah Ishak, Nor Azita Ahmad Tarmidzi, Kenneth Teow, Mazaya Mahmud, Lim Say Suan, Seow Sieng Teng, Nor'ain Md Rawi, Zalifah Zakiah, Zairah Zainal Abidin, Mohamad Israk, Rozita Ismail, Rafidah Saleh, Zalilawati Mohmad, Thye Ghee Yeap, Safiyah Jameelah Mohd Yusof, Azie Anne, Munira Yusoff, Norwazilah Mohd Ansul, Kenneth Lee, Chieng Lee Ling, Tang Pui Ling, Yushaniza Yaacob, Hurul Aini, Tara George, Norazizah Mohd Amin

Affiliations

¹ Medical Retina and Uveitis Department, Hospital Selayang, Batu Caves, Malaysia.
² Medical Retina and Uveitis Department, Hospital Shah Alam, Shah Alam, Malaysia. shelin06@gmail.com.
³ Public Health Department, Hospital Selayang, Batu Caves, Malaysia.

Abstract

Introduction: Uveitis is one of the common causes of visual impairment in Malaysia. It remains a challenging entity to diagnose and manage due to variation in its clinical presentation. This study aims to observe the demographic and clinical pattern of cases from the participating ophthalmology units in Malaysia.

Methods: This study involved prospective and multicentered data collection for patients newly diagnosed with uveitis from 1^st January 2018 to 31^st December 2018. Variables collected and analyzed included age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, state of origin, laterality, granulomatous or non-granulomatous uveitis, and etiology of uveitis.

Results: A total of 1199 newly diagnosed uveitis patients were analyzed within the study period. There was a significant association between the anatomical location of uveitis with age at presentation. The percentage of patients with anterior uveitis was higher in the '40 to 60' years and 'above 60' years age groups at 52.1% (n = 210) and 61.3% (n = 114) respectively. In contrast the percentage of patients with posterior and panuveitis was higher in the 1 to 20 and 20 to 40 years age groups at 51.4% (n = 54) and 48.7% (n = 246) respectively. Sixty three percent of the patients presented with unilateral uveitis (n = 760, p < 0.001) vs bilateral. Non-granulomatous uveitis comprised 84.5% of all patients (n = 1013, p < 0.001) compared to granulomatous uveitis. Non-infectious etiology contributed to 65.7% of all patients (n = 788, p < 0.001) with the majority being unclassifiable uveitis (n = 686, 57.2%,). Specific inflammatory entities contributed to only 8.5% (n = 102) of the non-infectious causes with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome being the most common (n = 25, 2.1%,). Infectious uveitis comprised 34.3% (n = 411) with tubercular (TB) uveitis (n = 105, 8.8%) and viral uveitis (n = 107, 8.9%) contributing the most followed by ocular Toxoplasmosis (n = 93,7.8%).] CONCLUSION: This study has highlighted the demographic data and common causes of uveitis in Malaysia.

Keywords: Anterior uveitis; Epidemiology; Incidence; Infectious uveitis; Intermediate uveitis; Malaysia; Panuveitis; Posterior uveitis; Uveitis.