What is uveitis? The uvea, which means grape in old Greek, is the darkly colored, blood rich part of the eye. The uvea includes the choroid (a spongy blood-filled layer which lays between the retina and the sclera, the ciliary body (which produces the fluid which fills the eye), and the iris (the brown or blue part of the eye). The suffix "itis" refers to inflammation; therefore uveitis implies inflammation of the uvea. If only the iris is involved, the inflammation is commonly called iritis, if both the iris and ciliary body are involved, the term is iridocyclitis. People afflicted with uveitis often experience pain and sensitivity to bright light, blurred vision, and redness of the eye.

Who gets uveitis?

Uveitis may be caused by a traumatic injury to the eye or by an infection inside the eye (e.g. herpes and tuberculosis), but most commonly is caused by an autoimmune process. Autoimmunity is a disease process where the body misidentifies part of itself and "attacks" this misidentified part as foreign. The "attack" takes the form of white blood cells and inflammatory substances which react as if the tissue they are attacking doesn't belong and needs to be removed or walled-off. The uvea is a part of the body more frequently misidentified in this way than other parts of the body. Some autoimmune diseases affect only the eye (e.g. pars planitis and birdshot chorioretinitis). Others affect the eye and may or may not affect other parts of the body at the same time (e.g. sarcoidosis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Behcet's disease, and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome).

How is uveitis treated?

Uveitis is a serious condition that needs careful medical therapy in order to prevent serious complications, such as vision loss from glaucoma, cataract, and/or macular edema. The uveitis can usually be treated and put into "remission," but is often not "curable" permanently. Steroid drops, pills, or injections are usually the first line of treatment for uveitis; however, stronger immunosuppressive medicines such as cyclosporine, methotrexate, and azathioprine, are often needed as well. These immunosuppressive medicines are commonly used in the prevention of graft rejection after heart or kidney transplants, another form of the body attacking what it views as a foreign invader. Careful monitoring of several blood tests is important in persons taking these powerful medicines. The doctors of New England Retina Associates have specialized training in the treatment of uveitis and the use of these medicines.

White blood cells collecting on back surface of cornea (Keratoprecipitates)

White blood cells collecting around vein in retina (Vasculitis)

Cataract caused by uveitis from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Macular edema caused by uveitis