Uveitis Disease: Inflammation of Uvea

Uveitis is a complex multifactorial autoimmune disease. The four anatomical types of uveitis include anterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis and panuveitis. Most of the uveitic entities are idiopathic. The disease is more common in males with mean age group of 35 to 45 years. Advanced diagnostic tests like molecular biologic study of intraocular fluid in infectious uveitis and high-resolution CT chest imaging techniques have contributed to etiological diagnosis of uveitis. The disease can cause varying degrees of visual loss. In the US, uveitis has been identified as a cause for 10% of the legal blindness. Although exact visual morbidity due to uveitis in India is unknown, it appears to be relatively more when compared to developed countries. HLA-B27 anterior uveitis accounts for 50% of acute anterior uveitis. Intermediate uveitis is mostly idiopathic. Posterior uveitis can be infectious or non-infectious.