| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada in United Arab Emirates |
| Purpose | To report the first series of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease from the Middle East. |
| Methods | We retrospectively included patients with diagnosis of VKH, divided into two groups: Group 1, consisting of patients arrived at our tertiary reference center in the early-stage of the disease and receiving prompt therapy with prednisolone 1mg/Kg associated or not with immunosuppressant; Group 2, consisting of patients with late-stage disease at our first observation who had not received proper therapy during the acute phase. Systemic associations, multimodal imaging, duration of follow-up, relapses, treatment used, local and systemic complications were recorded. |
| Results | 38 eyes of 19 patients(mean age 23.8 years)met the SUN criteria for VKH; 10 patients (52.6%) were assigned to Group 1, while 9 (47.4%) to Group 2. Seven (70%) patients of Group 1 received in the early-stage both systemic steroids and immunosuppressant. In Group 1, none of the patients developed cataract and subretinal fibrosis, 1(10%) had a steroid-induced ocular hypertension in both eyes (medically controlled) and one eye (5%) developed choroidal neovascularization (CNV). In Group 2, cataracts and glaucoma complicated 14 eyes (77.7%), CNVs 3 eyes (16,6%) and subretinal fibrosis 5 eyes (27.7%). Furthermore, the total amount of recurrences in the Group 1 was 8, while in Group 2 was 23. The difference between the 2 groups in terms of cataract and glaucoma complications was statistically significant (p<0.01), as well as the total amount of recurrences. |
| Conclusion | Middle Eastern patients with VKH seem to show an earlier age of disease onset. A prompt treatment with high systemic steroid dose, possibly associated with immunosuppressant seems to reduce the number of recurrences and complications. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
Authors 1
| Last name | SATURNO |
| Initials of first name(s) | M.C. |
| Department | Clinica Mediterranea |
| City | Naples |
| Country | Italy |
Authors 2
| Last name | Aljneibi |
| Initials of first name(s) | S. |
| Department | Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi |
| City | Abu Dhabi |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
Authors 3
| Last name | Neri |
| Initials of first name(s) | P. |
| Department | Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi |
| City | Abu Dhabi |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
Authors 4
| Last name | Pichi |
| Initials of first name(s) | F. |
| Department | Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi |
| City | Abu Dhabi |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
