| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | Patterns of uveitis in a tertiary referral centre in Reggio Emilia (Northern Italy): a comparison with the past to understand the future. |
| Purpose | To analyse the referral patterns and the clinical and therapeutic features of patients diagnosed with uveitis in a tertiary referral centre to provide a comparison with previously published series from the same centre. |
| Methods | Retrospective retrieval of data incorporating all new referrals to the Immunology Ocular Unit in Reggio Emilia (Italy) from November 2015 to April 2022. |
| Results | Among the 1557 patients, the male-to-female ratio was 1:1.27. Anterior uveitis was the most common (53.7%), followed by posterior (21.6%), pan- (18.5%) and intermediate (6.2%) uveitis. The most identifiable specific diagnoses were anterior herpetic uveitis (22.8%), Fuchs uveitis (15.9%) and tuberculosis (7.6%). Infectious aetiologies were the most frequent (34.1%) and were more diffuse among non-Caucasian patients (p<0.001), followed by systemic disease-associated uveitis (26.5%) and ocular-specific conditions (20%). Idiopathic uveitis accounted for 19.4% of cases. Fuchs uveitis presented the longest mean diagnostic delay (97 months). Immunosuppressants were administrated in 25.2% of patients. Antimetabolites, calcineurin inhibitors and biologics were prescribed in 74.6%, 11.6% and 45.3% of cases, respectively. Compared to our previous reports, we observed an increased number of non-Italian patients, a rise in infectious and systemic disease-associated uveitis, a decrease in idiopathic conditions, a growing use of non-biologic drugs and a more diversified use of biologic ones. |
| Conclusion | The pattern of uveitis appears to be changing, very likely due to migratory flows. Diagnostic improvements are reducing the incidence of idiopathic uveitis. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
Authors 1
| Last name | GENTILE |
| Initials of first name(s) | P. |
| Department | OCULAR IMMUNOLOGY UNIT-AZIENDA USL-IRCCS DI REGGIO EMILIA |
| City | REGGIO EMILIA |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 2
| Last name | BOLLETTA |
| Initials of first name(s) | E. |
| Department | OCULAR IMMUNOLOGY UNIT-AZIENDA USL-IRCCS DI REGGIO EMILIA |
| City | REGGIO EMILIA |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 3
| Last name | DE SIMONE |
| Initials of first name(s) | L. |
| Department | OCULAR IMMUNOLOGY UNIT-AZIENDA USL-IRCCS DI REGGIO EMILIA |
| City | REGGIO EMILIA |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 4
| Last name | GOZZI |
| Initials of first name(s) | F. |
| Department | OCULAR IMMUNOLOGY UNIT-AZIENDA USL-IRCCS DI REGGIO EMILIA |
| City | REGGIO EMILIA |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 5
| Last name | CIMINO |
| Initials of first name(s) | L. |
| Department | OCULAR IMMUNOLOGY UNIT-AZIENDA USL-IRCCS DI REGGIO EMILIA |
| City | REGGIO EMILIA |
| Country | Italy |
