Behçet uveitis more common in young Saudi men

This large retrospective study of Behçet uveitis patients at a single center in Saudi Arabia found a male predominance of 77.3%.

The authors note that there are no sex-based differences in access to health care in Saudi Arabia and therefore there was no bias in the estimation of male predominance in this study. The strong male preponderance in this study concurs with previous reports from countries along the ancient Silk Road that extends from the eastern Mediterranean to Japan.

Another important finding of this study was that only the combination of prednisone, cyclosporine and infliximab significant improvemed BCVA in these patients. This finding supports recent reports suggesting that infliximab reduces the frequency of ocular attacks and improves visual acuity in patients with Behcet’s disease-related uveitis.

The authors reviewed the charts of 132 uveitis patients with Behçet’s disease seen at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia over the last 25 years.

The mean age of onset was 36.9 ± 11.4 years, and the patients were predominantly male (77.3%). Panuveitis was the most common presentation, affecting 118 patients (89.4%). Episodes were bilateral in 75.8 % of patients.

BCVA was 20/125 in both eyes. Retinal vasculitis at presentation occurred in 26.3% of eyes, occlusive vasculitis in 25.4% of eyes and macular edema in 18.1% of eyes.

Common therapeutic management included oral corticosteroids in 93.2% of patients, intravenous steroid therapy in 26.5%, cyclosporine in 74.2% and azathioprine in 49.2%.

Common anterior segment complications included glaucoma (19% of eyes) and cataracts (14.7% of eyes). The most common posterior segment complication was optic nerve atrophy. Cataract surgery was the most common surgery. At the last visit, BCVA was better than 20/50 in 56.5% of eyes.

Question:

1. Behcet’s associated uveitis predominantly affects:

a. children

b. young males

c. young females

d. older people

e. all of the above

Answer -b