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Invited Commentary
November 2016

Prevalence of the Uveitides in the United States

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
  • 2Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(11):1245-1246. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2016.3289

The uveitides are a collection of more than 30 diseases characterized by intraocular inflammation.1,2 Collectively, they are the fifth or sixth leading cause of blindness in the United States, and the cost of treating the uveitides has been estimated to rival that of treating diabetic retinopathy.3 Furthermore, because the uveitides occur at all ages, including in children, they have the potential for more years of vision lost than age-related diseases. Although there are more than 30 recognized uveitic diseases, treatment of noninfectious uveitis typically is determined by the anatomic class, with anterior uveitides typically being treated (at least initially) with topical corticosteroids, intermediate uveitides with regional corticosteroid injections or systemic medications, and posterior and panuveitides with systemic medications (eg, oral corticosteroids and immunosuppression). As such, incidence and prevalence estimates are important for determining the magnitude of the disease burden and resource needs.

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