Purpose: Present 1-year data of the combined ophthalmology and rheumatology pediatric uveitis clinic at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
Methods: Retrospective data collection
Results: An estimated 230 patients with JIA were screened by ophthalmology in this time period.21 different paediatric patients with iritis were managed from June 2011 to May 2012 in the joint clinic.8(38%) patients were male and 13(62%) female with age at diagnosis ranged from 0.5 – 12 years. 11 patients (52%) were diagnosed with oligoarticular and 5(23%) with polyarticular JIA,3 patients were ANA +, 3(14%) did not have any joint involvement.9 patients(43%) presented with vision of 0.2logMar or worse, and 4 continued to have vision worse than 0.2 logMar while 17 patients (81%) improved or maintained stable vision of 0.1 or better.3 patients had intermediate uveitis,1 had panuveitis and 1 had papillitis with iritis.2 had eye complications of lens opacities and 1 patient had retinal detachment.17(81%) patients received systemic treatment, with 12 receiving methotrexate +/- mycophenolate mofetil and 5(29%) receiving anti-TNF α therapy (infliximab or adalimumab) in addition to methotrexate +/- mycophenolate mofetil. 13/16 patients with JIA (81%) had iritis associated with their joint flare-ups. 9 patients (50%) out of 18 with joint pathology received intra-articular steroid injections during this period and 6 received (28%) periocular steroid injection. A survey of the joint clinic by the patient and medical staff showed significantly high satisfaction rate.
Conclusion: The joint clinic has numerous benefits and is the right approach to manage a condition where communication is crucial between team monitoring (ophthalmology) and managing (rheumatology) the condition