Uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and chronic idiopathic uveitis in children: A retrospective cohort study

Table 1 Comparative analysis of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis and chronic idiopathic uveitis

Parameter	Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis (n = 110)	Chronic idiopathic uveitis (n = 40)	P value
Females	67 (60.9)	17 (42.5)	0.062
Age at diagnosis of uveitis (years)			0.648
Mean	7.2	7.1
Median (25%, 75%)	6.4 (4.4, 9.0)	6.2 (5.2, 9.4)
Min–max	1.8-17.7	1.0-15.0
Age at diagnosis of arthritis (years)
Mean	6.4	-	-
Median (25%, 75%)	5.6 (2.7, 9.3)
Min–max	1.0-16.2
Anatomical type of uveitis			0.023
Anterior	81 (73.6)	20 (50.0)
Pars planitis	4 (3.6)	2 (5.0)
Posterior	4 (3.6)	4 (10.0)
Panuveitis	21 (19.2)	14 (35.0)
Manifested (“red-eye”) uveitis	40 (36.4)	17 (42.5)	0.569
Unilateral uveitis	49 (44.5)	18/39 (46.2)	1.0
Eye complications at first examination	34 (30.9)	12 (30.0)	1.0
Antinuclear antibodies positivity	60/104 (57.7)	20/35 (57.1)	1.0
Human leukocyte antigen-B27-positivity	18/51 (35.3)	5/21 (23.8)	0.413
Uveitis appearance		-	-
Before arthritis	31 (28.2)
Simultaneously with arthritis	19 (17.3)
After arthritis	59 (53.6)
Unknown	1 (0.9)
C-reactive protein (mg/L)			0.035
Mean	24.3	8.8
Median (25%, 75%)	1.50 (1.00, 17.00)	0.98 (0.34, 1.70)
Min-max	0-192.00	0.07-60.00
ESR (mm/hour)	28.0	18.0	0.179
Mean	22.0 (15.0, 47.0)	10.0 (8.0, 21.0)
Median (25%, 75%)	2.0-78.0	4.0-60.0
Min-max
Active joint at onset		-	-
Mean	2.0
Median (25%, 75%)	1.0 (1.0, 2.0)
Min-max	1.0-7.0

Data are presented as n (%). Max: Maximum; Min: Minimum.

Table 2 Main treatment outcomes in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis and chronic idiopathic uveitis

Parameter	Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis (n = 68)	Chronic idiopathic uveitis (n = 28)	P value
Received MTX	57 (83.8)	27 (96.4)	0.171
Time to MTX prescription (years)			0.004
Mean	1.1	2.6
median (25%, 75%)	0.3 (0.1, 1.5)	0.8 (0.3, 7.2)
Min–max	0.0–8.4	0.0–11.4
Remission on MTX	39/55 (70.9)	13/23 (56.5)	0.293
Time to remission on MTX (years)			0.002
Mean	1.10	0.19
Median (25%, 75%)	0.30 (0.30, 0.60)	0.17 (0.08, 0.17)
Min–max	0.04–8.20	0.08–0.80
Flare on MTX	25/54 (46.3)	11/12 (91.7)	0.004
Time to first flare on MTX (years)			0.402
Mean	0.90	1.30
Median (25%, 75%)	0.60 (0.30, 1.10)	1.10 (0.30, 1.50)
Min–max	0.10–4.30	0.17–3.30
Biological treatment	44 (64.7)	23 (82.1)	0.141
Time since MTX to biologics (years)			0.593
Mean	1.5	2.0
Median (25%, 75%)	1.0 (0.4, 1.5)	1.1 (0.5, 3.0)
Min–max	0.3–4.8	0.2–7.0
Time before biological treatment (years)			0.020
Mean	2.3	4.4
Median (25%, 75%)	1.6 (0.6, 3.7)	3.2 (1.4, 7.2)
Min–max	0.0–8.0	0.3–12.5
Remission on biological treatment	35/45 (77.8)	19/20 (95.0)	0.151
Time to remission on biological treatment (years)			0.980
Mean	0.30	0.30
Median (25%, 75%)	0.20 (0.10, 0.40)	0.20 (0.10, 0.40)
Min–max	0.00–1.00	0.01–1.00
Flare on biological treatment	18/34 (52.9)	11/19 (57.9)	0.780
Time to first flare on biological treatment (years)			0.233
Mean	1.9	1.2
Median (25%, 75%)	1.6 (0.8, 2.5)	0.7 (0.3, 1.9)
Min–max	0.1–5.1	0.1–3.6
Received intraocular corticosteroid injections	32 (47.1)	18 (64.3)	0.177
Undergone surgery	18 (26.5)	7 (25.0)	1.0
Time to eye surgery (years)			0.796
Mean	4.5	5.0
Median (25%, 75%)	3.9 (1.3, 6.5)	4.5 (2.5, 5.2)
Min–max	0.1–10.7	1.3–12.5

Data are presented as n (%). Max: Maximum; Min: Minimum; MTX: Methotrexate.

Table 3 Comparative analysis of uveitis cohort stratified by human leukocyte antigen-B27 status

Parameter	HLA-B27 (+) (n = 23)	HLA-B27 (-) (n = 49)	P value
Males	5 (21.7)	22 (44.9)	0.071
Age at diagnosis of uveitis (years)			0.606
Mean	8.6	8.4
Median (25%, 75%)	6.3 (4.8, 13.1)	8.3 (6.2, 10.1)
Min–max	1.9–17.7	3.2–14.9
Age at diagnosis of arthritis (years)			0.167
Mean	9.3	7.4
Median (25%, 75%)	8.9 (5.9, 13.2)	7.0 (3.5, 10.9)
Min–max	1.3-16.2	1.0–15.4
Anatomical type of uveitis			0.385
Anterior	16 (69.6)	26 (53.1)
Pars planitis	1 (4.3)	5 (10.2)
Posterior	0 (0.0)	5 (10.2)
Panuveitis	6 (26.1)	13 (26.5)
Manifested (“red-eye”) uveitis	15 (65.2)	13 (26.5)	0.004
Unilateral uveitis	17 (73.9)	17 (34.7)	0.002
Eye complications at first examination	7 (30.4)	14 (28.6)	1.0
Antinuclear antibodies positivity	7/20 (35.0)	21/47 (44.7)	0.591
Uveitis appearance			0.795
Before arthritis	6 (26.1)	10 (20.4)
Simultaneously with arthritis	4 (17.4)	5 (10.2)
After arthritis	8 (34.8)	17 (34.7)
Unknown	0 (0.0)	1 (2.0)
Chronic idiopathic uveitis	5 (21.7)	16 (32.7)
C-reactive protein (mg/L)			0.893
Mean	7.4	22.2
Median (25%, 75%)	1.0 (1.0, 8.9)	1.0 (0.6, 11.9)
Min–max	1.0–30.0	0.0–133.0
ESR (mm/hour)			0.132
Mean	28.9	21.6
Median (25%, 75%)	24.0 (20.0, 39.0)	15.0 (8.0, 25.0)
Min–max	8.0-56.0	2.0–77.0
Active joint at onset			0.344
Mean	1.5	2.0
Median (25%, 75%)	1.0 (1.0, 2.0)	1 (1.0, 3.0)
Min–max	1.0–3.0	1.0–5.0

Data are presented as n (%). HLA-B27: Human leukocyte antigen-B27; Max: Maximum; Min: Minimum.

Table 4 Comparative analysis of patients with uveitis with unilateral and bilateral involvement

Parameter	Unilateral (n = 67)	Bilateral (n = 82)	P value
Females	34 (50.7)	49 (59.8)	0.321
Age at diagnosis of uveitis (years)			0.880
Mean	7.1	7.2
Median (25%, 75%)	6.1 (4.4, 8.4)	6.5 (4.2, 9.8)
Min–max	2.3-17.7	1.5–16.8
Age at diagnosis of arthritis (years)			0.710
Mean	6.4	6.5
Median (25%, 75%)	5.7 (3.8, 8.3)	5.4 (2.4, 10.4)
Min–max	1.2–14.2	1.0–16.2
Anatomical type of uveitis			0.082
Anterior	52 (77.6)	48 (58.5)
Pars planitis	1 (1.5)	5 (6.1)
Posterior	3 (4.5)	5 (6.1)
Panuveitis	11 (16.4)	24 (29.3)
Manifested (“red-eye”) uveitis	32 (47.8)	25/62 (40.3)	0.042
Human leukocyte antigen-B27 (+)	17/34 (50.0)	6/38 (15.8)	0.002
Eye complications at first examination	17 (25.4)	29 (35.4)	0.215
Antinuclear antibodies positivity	33/64 (51.6)	47/75 (62.7)	0.229
Uveitis appearance			0.115
Before arthritis	18 (26.9)	13 (15.9)
Simultaneously with arthritis	9 (13.4)	10 (12.2)
After arthritis	21 (31.3)	38 (46.3)
Unknown	1 (1.5)	0 (0.0)
Chronic idiopathic uveitis	18 (26.9)	21 (25.6)
C-reactive protein (mg/L)			0.194
Mean	23.8	19.3
Median (25%, 75%)	3.7 (1.0, 23.0)	1.0 (1.0, 15.2)
Min–max	0.1–192.0	0.0–133.0
ESR (mm/hour)			0.086
Mean	30.5	22.7
Median (25%, 75%)	24.0 (11.0, 49.0)	17.0 (7.0, 26.0)
Min–max	4.0–78.0	2.0–77.0
Active joint at onset			0.698
Mean	1.9	1.8
Median (25%, 75%)	1.0 (1.0, 2.0)	1.0 (1.0, 2.0)
Min–max	1.0–6.0	1.0–7.0

Data are presented as n (%). Max: Maximum; Min: Minimum.

Table 5 Summary data on the prevalence of pediatric uveitis in different countries

Parameter	Our study, 2024	Siiskonen et al[6], 2021	Sun et al[7], 2022	Shin et al[8], 2021	Kim et al[9], 2022	BenEzra et al[15], 2005	Päivönsalo-Hietanen et al[16], 2000
Sample size	150	150	209	155	5972	276	55
Females	84 (56.0)	79 (53.0)	106 (50.7)	74 (47.7)	2442 (41.0)	139 (50.4)	34 (62.0)
Mean age at onset (years)	7.2 (4.4-9.1)	6.9 ± 3.9	9.0 (7.0-12.0)	13.0 (9.5-16.0)	NA	NA	NA
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis	110 (73.3)	95 (61.0)	17 (8.1)	23 (14.8)	926 (8.7)	41 (14.9)	20 (36.3)
Females (with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis)	67 (60.9)	60 (76.0)	NA	8 (34.8)	NA	NA	15 (75.0)

Data are presented as n (%). NA: Not available.