Land of the Long White Cloud: The Spectrum of Uveitis at a Tertiary Referral Center in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To investigate the patterns of uveitis at a tertiary referral center in New Zealand.

Methods: Retrospective data were collected for 1260 patients presenting to uveitis clinics in Auckland, New Zealand, between January 2008 and April 2014. Demographics, disease characteristics, and uveitis subtype were analyzed for all patients.

Results: Among 1148 patients, 70.3% had anterior uveitis. The most common diagnosis causing anterior uveitis was HLA B27-associated disease. Toxoplasmosis was the most common cause of posterior uveitis, and sarcoidosis featured prominently in cases of panuveitis. Infectious etiologies represented 19.6% of all cases. Ethnic variations were noted, such as an increased prevalence of panuveitis in Pacific Islanders, TB-related uveitis in Indian patients, and Posner-Schlossman uveitis in East Asians. Patients over the age of 60 showed an increased prevalence of herpetic anterior uveitis and drug-induced uveitis.

Conclusions: New Zealand has a multicultural population with a wide spectrum of ocular inflammation that varies with ethnicity and age.

Keywords:

• Demography
• epidemiology
• ethnic variation
• uveitis
• New Zealand

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.