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  • Sympathetic ophthalmia following open globe injury is relatively rare

    Uveitis

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    Review of: The incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia after trauma: A meta-analysis

    He B, Tanya S, Wang C, et al. American Journal of Ophthalmology, February 2022

    A meta-analysis was carried out to estimate the overall incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) and the rate of SO development after open globe injury (OGI).

    Study design

    Twenty-four English-language studies enrolling a total of 37,684 adult and pediatric patients with OGI, published before November 2020, were included in the analysis. The criterion for inclusion was an explicit discussion of the presence or absence of SO among the study population.

    Outcomes

    Ninety-three cases of SO were identified. The incidence proportion of SO among OGI was 0.19%, and the incidence rate was 33 per 100,000 person-years. Incidence proportions and rates were higher in children than in adults, but were not significantly higher.

    Limitations

    The main limitation is that this is a meta-analysis with variable quality in the included underlying studies, most of which have observation bias of some degree.

    Clinical significance

    The findings can be used to counsel patients who have an OGI on their risk of developing SO afterwards. It does not change management strategies regarding treatment after SO develops.