Herpetic and HLA-B27 associated anterior uveitis
The purpose of this thesis is to describe and gain more insight in the complications, ocular characteristics, visual acuity and quality of life of patients with herpetic or HLA-B27 associated anterior uveitis (AU). These are, except for idiopathic patients, the most common infectious and non-infectious forms of AU. AU is an inflammation of the uvea tissue in the eye, the anterior chamber of the eye is the primary site of inflammation.
The research in this thesis showed that patients with herpetic AU had a worse visual prognosis compared to HLA-B27 associated AU. In addition, herpetic AU patients have more ocular complications, mainly elevated intraocular pressure and secondary glaucoma. Furthermore, it turned out that patients with unilateral or bilateral HLA-B27 AU had a good prognosis. It seems that bilateral involvement of the eyes does give a higher chance of having an associated systemic disease.
In recent years, patients and patient associations have a growing interest in quality of life, because this gives information on the impact of a disease on a patient’s daily life. Our research showed that herpetic and HLA-B27 associated AU patients have a reasonably good vision related quality of life. However, the presence of a systemic disease causes a lower quality of life.
The above results are of importance by contributing to the development of a more personalized care of uveitis patients, prevention of ocular complications, aiming for a better visual acuity in the long run and having a better quality of life.