Rates of Drug-Induced Uveitis: A Review by Medication Class

Raghuram Jasti,1,* Zhenghao Wang,1,* Lucy Zhou,1 Baotram V Nguyen,1 Meghan K Berkenstock2 1Department of Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2Division of Ocular Immunology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Meghan K Berkenstock, Division of Ocular Immunology, Wilmer Eye Institute, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe St., Maumenee Building Third Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21087, USA, Tel +1 410 894 0480, Fax +1 410 893 9796, Email [email protected]: Drug-induced uveitis is an uncommon but clinically important cause of intraocular inflammation across diverse systemic and ophthalmic therapies. As the use of biologics, targeted agents, and chronic ocular medications expands, clinicians need drug class–specific data on risk, phenotype, and clinical course. In this study, we synthesize and review the published literature on drug-induced uveitis, summarizing reported incidence, clinical phenotypes, latency to onset, and time to resolution by medication class, route of administration, and patient-level factors.Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted with PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library in September 2025 using terms related to drug-induced and medication-associated uveitis. Articles were included if they discussed human cases of noninfectious uveitis attributed to a specific medication or drug class and were written in English. Data analysis was performed to assess relationships between medication class, medication exposure time, uveitis location, uveitis treatment, and uveitis resolution time.Results: 317 articles with 690 unique patient cases met inclusion criteria for case-level data analysis. The mean age at drug-induced uveitis onset was 54.4 years; most patients were female, 63.4% had bilateral disease, and 74.8% had anterior uveitis. Mean exposure time from first dose to uveitis onset was 197.2 days (SD 497.6; range, 0– 6205), and mean resolution time was 61.0 days (SD 157.4; range, 1– 2520). Antineoplastics (29.1%), vaccines (15.8%), antibiotics (13.0%), intraocular pressure–lowering drops (11.9%), bisphosphonates (9.7%), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors (6.4%), antivirals (5.1%), and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (4.3%) were the most frequently implicated classes.Conclusion: Drug-induced uveitis, although rare, represents a broad array of presentations, mechanisms, and clinical course. As systemic and targeted therapeutic use continues to expand, understanding the clinical presenation and course will help patient outcomes and minimize vision-threatening risks.Keywords: uveitis, drug-induced uveitis, medication adverse effects, ocular complications