Non-infectious causes of uveitis in 70 Swiss children

Many diseases are linked with uveitis, but few studies have specifically lo oked at the non-infectious triggers of childhood uveitis in Central Europe. The charts of 70 paediatric patients with non-infectious uveitis admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, University of Bern, Switzerland, between 1 983 and 1998 were therefore reviewed. In the patients the age at presentati on with uveitis ranged between 0.3 and 16 y, median 8.5 y. Based on the loc alization, uveitis anterior was diagnosed in most cases (n = 40; 57%), foll owed by panuveitis (n = 20; 29%) and uveitis posterior (n = 10; 14%). Uveit is was chronic in 54 (77%) and acute in 16 (23%), bilateral in 38 (54%) and unilateral in 32 (46%) cases. An associated condition was noted in 32 (46% ) cases: juvenile idiopathic arthritis in 24 cases, sarcoidosis and juvenil e spondyloarthropathy in 3 cases, and Sjogren's syndrome and Behcet's disea se in 1 case each. In the remaining 38 (54%) patients, no associated condit ion was diagnosed. It is concluded that in Swiss children, uveitis can be due to a wide spectr um of non-infectious diseases, juvenile idiopathic arthritis being the lead ing cause. In the majority of the children, no, associated condition was re cognized.