Posterior synechiae identified as a risk factor for cataracts in children with JIA-associated uveitis

This retrospective cohort study collected data on 53 children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis. Of these children, 27 had undergone cataract extraction.
 
Researchers observed that periocular steroid use didn’t appear to be a risk factor in the development of surgically indicated cataract in these patients. It also didn’t appear to matter if JIA manifested initially with uveitis or prior to uveitis. It was the children with posterior synechia, who had the shortest time interval between the onset of uveitis and the development of cataract requiring surgery.
 
However, early treatment with methotrexate is associated with a mean delay of 3.5 years in the development of cataract requiring surgery.