Demography and clinical pattern of newly diagnosed uveitis patients in Malaysia
Authors: Rajan Rajasudha Sawri , Mohamed Shelina Oli , Salowi Mohamad Aziz ,   Malaysian Uveitis Study Group, Jeffrey Shakira , Ibrahim Farah Ibtisam , Hazmy Wan Dalila Wan , Naidu Vinuthinee Naidu Munisamy , Hui Josephine Lee Oon , Abdullah Nurul Ashikin , Asiff Nur Hafidza , Haron Mohd Faizal , Binson Caroline , Mun Tan Li , Ho Niki , Ali Nazima bt Shadaht , Khairuddin Muhammad Najmi , Lung Chong Ka , Othman Izzati , Haw Matthew Tong Jong , Rosli Abdul Hadi bin , Ghani Siti Ilyana Binti , Embong Zunaina , Seng Chiang Wai , Shan Viona Lai Mi , Min Teh Wee , Wei Lee Wei , Siang Justin Yeak Dieu , Iqbal Tajunisah , Shuhaimi Nurul Fatin Fadzlullah , Nadras Indira , Yen Chan Li , Kaur Melinder , Widyani Noor , Seng Chiang Wai , Muda Rosiah , Yee Mandy Cheong Moon , Yaacob Hafiza , Jaffar Tengku NorinaTengku , Azimah Abdah , Min Foo Lee , Amin Norazizah Mohd , Buandasan Krishnalatha , Sharifuddin Aasiah Ahmad , Asini Atikah , Govindasamy Gayathri , Aziz Hayati Abd , Thiyagarajam Krishnadevi , Yuen Goh Siew , Abdurrahman Muhammad Yusuf , Singham Nandini Vijaya , Kuganasan Sangeeta , Rahman Wan Mohd Hafidz Wan Abd , Ann Patricia , Rasid Noor Khairul , Ruan Ng Hui , Han Goh Chon , Siang Ngim You , Adilah Siti Farhah , Ishak Hamisah , Tarmidzi Nor Azita Ahmad , Teow Kenneth , Mahmud Mazaya , Suan Lim Say , Teng Seow Sieng , Rawi Nor’ain Md , Zakiah Zalifah , Abidin Zairah Zainal , Israk Mohamad , Ismail Rozita , Saleh Rafidah , Mohmad Zalilawati , Yeap Thye Ghee , Yusof Safiyah Jameelah Mohd , Anne Azie , Yusoff Munira , Ansul Norwazilah Mohd , Lee Kenneth , Ling Chieng Lee , Ling Tang Pui , Yaacob Yushaniza , Aini Hurul , George Tara , Amin Norazizah Mohd ,   Ministry of Health Malaysia
Published: September 2022

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 1stJanuary 2018 to 31stDecember 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.