UVEITIS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED-STATES

Purpose. Previous epidemiologic studies of uveitis have focused on pre dominantly Caucasian populations, and none have been based in the Sout heast. We analyzed the epidemiology of uveitis among a referral popula tion with a high percentage of African Americans in the United States. Methods. We evaluated demographic data from 385 consecutive patients referred to the Duke Uveitis Clinic. Results. Of the 385 patients, 120 (31%) were African American and 258 (67%) Caucasian; 237 (62%) were f emale and 148 (38%) male. The most common diagnoses among the 385 pati ents were idiopathic panuveitis (64 patients [17%]), idiopathic anteri or uveitis (47 patients [12%]), pars planitis (46 patients [12%]), sar coidosis (44 patients [11%]), and toxoplasmosis (39 patients [10%]). T hese diagnoses were also the most common among the 120 African America n patients: 33 patients (28%) had idiopathic panuveitis, 30 (25%) had sarcoidosis, 10 (8%) had idiopathic anterior uveitis, 8 (7%) had toxop lasmosis, and 6 (5%) had pars planitis. Among the 258 Caucasian patien ts, the most common diagnoses were pars planitis (39 patients [15%]), idiopathic anterior uveitis (37 patients [14%]), toxoplasmosis (30 pat ients [12%]), idiopathic panuveitis (28 patients [11%]), and multifoca l choroiditis and panuveitis (MCP) (17 patients [7%]). Categorizing di agnoses of air 385 patients by anatomic location, panuveitis was most frequent (148 patients [38%]), followed by anterior uveitis (97 patien ts [25%]), posterior uveitis (93 patients [24%]), and intermediate uve itis (47 patients [12%]). Conclusions. The higher frequency of sarcoid osis and idiopathic panuveitis than previously reported is related to our larger African American population base. The racial composition of the Southeast does not, however, account for differences such as our higher percentage of MCP; it is possible that other tic or environment al factors play a role in this region.