ETIOLOGY AND CLINICAL-FEATURES OF ANTERIOR UVEITIS IN SOUTHERN CROATIA (DALMATIA)

Patients with endogenous uveitis represent 6.5% of patients in Univers ity Hospital Split, which serves most of South Croatia. Within a four- year period 208 patients were treated for endogenous uveitis. Results of clinical-laboratory examinations and treatment of 112 subjects suff ering from anterior uveitis are presented and compared. Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) was the commonest form of uveal inflammation. It was pr esent in 49% of all uveitis cases and in 91.1% of all anterior uveitis cases (AU). 67.6% of the subjects with AAU had and 32.4% did not have the HLA B27 antigen. The inflammatory pattern in B27(+) patients was typical of B27(+) AAU. Patients with B27(+) AAU exhibited the same inf lammatory pattern as those with B7(+) AAU. B27(+) AAU patients had sig nificantly more systemic/rheumatic diseases (p<0.05), while patients w ith B27(-) AAU had significantly more infectious diseases (p<0.05). Fo rty percent of the patients with chronic anterior uveitis suffered fro m juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The authors observed the rise in peri pheral blood IgG, IgA, IgM, CD2(+), CD4(+) and B cells during the acut e phase of AAU. Normalization of B cells (CD20(+)) was observed in ear ly remission of anterior uveitis, about eight weeks after the onset of the disease.