Retrospective analysis of the causes of uveitis in patients of the ophthalmology department of a multidisciplinary clinic: the place of hyperuricemia

Background. Prolonged, including asymptomatic hyperuricemia (HU) for 7–10 years leads to the formation of sodium monourate deposits in various organs and tissues.

Aim. To study the incidence of noninfectious uveitis (NU) caused by HU.

Materials and methods. A retrospective evaluation of medical records of 217 patients diagnosed with NU in the ophthalmologic department of the general clinic for 10 years was carried out. Inclusion criteria: excess of serum uric acid values beyond the reference value (464 μmol/L), absence of other reasons explaining uveitis in the medical history. Exclusion criteria: glaucoma, recurrence of uveitis, pathology of ENT organs and oral cavity. Data are presented as median and interquartile range. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used as a criterion to assess the relationship between quantitative variables. The threshold level of statistical significance was taken as 0.05.

Results. There were 19 patients, mean age of men – 60 years (54–69 years), mean age of women – 60 years (37–67 years), leukocyte count – 7.8×10⁹ (6.4–9.4×10⁹), SOE – 52.5 mm/h (47–61 mm/h), CRP – 62.6 mg/L (53–68.1 mg/L), MC – 560 μmol/L (531–601 μmol/L). Among the concomitant pathology: cataract was detected in 8 patients (44.4% of the total), hypertension – in 7 (38.9%) patients, CHD in its various forms – in 6 patients (33.3%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma – in 2 (11.1%) patients, diabetes mellitus – in 1 (5.3%) patient, gout – in 2 (11.1%) patients, and urolithiasis – in 4 (21%) patients. Statistically significant direct correlations were found between uric acid levels with COE (ρ=0.993; p<0001), CRP (ρ=0.998; p<0001). All identified correlations had strong closeness according to the Cheddock scale.

Conclusion. Despite the low incidence of HU-induced NU, examination of serum urate levels is an important diagnostic criterion in recognizing the cause of uveitis.