Features of the course of non-infectious uveitis in children in Ukraine

Uveitis that develops in childhood has a potentially severe course and can lead to vision loss. Аim is to study the manifestations, structure and features of the course of idiopathic uveitis and uveitis in children with rheumatic diseases. Materials and methods. During 2022-2023 49 children with uveitis were studied, of which 45 patients had a non-infectious (autoimmune) nature of the disease. The results of uveitis activity scales, quality of life in children with autoimmune uveitis and rheumatic diseases were evaluated. Descriptive and correlation analysis were used as analytical and statistical methods. The results. According to the results of the study, children were observed for idiopathic uveitis, 29 children had inflammation of eye structures associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The frequency of actual uveitis screening is once every 5.7±1.67 months. In 39.5% of cases, uveitis started asymptomatically. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 10.5±4.1 years. Among patients with non-infectious uveitis, girls predominated, the ratio of boys to girls was 1:2, gender differences were more characteristic of JIA-associated uveitis. Among JIA subtypes, the oligoarticular variant accounted for half of cases with JIA-associated uveitis. Anterior uveitis was unilateral in 60.5% of cases. Eye complications were observed in almost half of the patients. Laboratory markers ANA and HLA B27 were more likely to be detected in patients with JIA-associated uveitis, which made it possible to consider their detection in patients with idiopathic uveitis as a potential risk factor for the development of rheumatic disease. Treatment of children with idiopathic uveitis was significantly less active, which requires further study. Conclusions. In recent years, the situation with the assessment of the quality of life in medicine has improved, relevant questionnaires are being actively implemented. There remains ambiguity in the results in world medicine regarding the availability of works on determining the relevance of the problem of the quality of life of children with JIA in Ukraine. The study was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol was approved by the Сommittee on bioethics and deontology of these institutions. The informed consent of the children's parents was obtained for the research. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.