Purpose

To explore the causes of uveitis in patients referred to the Department of Ophthalmology at Oslo University Hospital (OUH) in Norway.

Methods

All adult uveitis patients referred for a uveitis work-up at OUH during 2020 and 2021 were consecutively included. The study was performed according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Results

One hundred fifty-eight uveitis patients were identified, encompassing 93 women and 65 men. The mean age was 48.3 ± 19.2 years. The majority of the patients were Caucasians (83.5%), while Africans (7.6%), Asians (7.6%), and South Americans (1.3%) represented minorities. The uveitis type was most commonly anterior (45.6%) and less commonly posterior (21.5%) or intermediary (17.7%). Scleritis (9.5%) and pan-uveitis (5.7%) were the least common. Most uveitis cases were defined as autoimmune (85.4%), while 12.7% were due to infectious agents, and 1.9% were neoplastic. The autoimmune subgroups were idiopathic (42.4%), HLA-B27 and/or Bechterew’s disease (14.6%), sarcoidosis (6.3%), JIA (3.8%), Behcet’s disease (3.2%), Birdshot chorioretinopathy (2.5%), TINU (1.9%), PIC (1.9%), multiple sclerosis (1.9%), APMPPE (1.3%), Fuchs’ uveitis syndrome (1.3%), inflammatory bowel disease (1.3%), retinal vasculitis (1.3%), MEWDS (0.6%), multifocal choroiditis (0.6%), and rheumatoid arthritis (0.6%). The infectious subgroups were toxoplasmosis (6.3%), presumed ocular tuberculosis (3.2%), cytomegalovirus (1.3%), varicella-zoster virus (1.3%), and herpes simplex virus (0.6%). All 1.9% of neoplastic cases were due to ocular lymphoma.

Conclusions

The majority of uveitis cases at a tertiary center in Norway's most significant health region represent autoimmune diseases, of which HLA-B27 and sarcoidosis are the most commonly identified causes.