Incidence, Risk Factors and Surgical Outcomes of Cataract among Patients with Uveitis in a University Referral Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To investigate incidence, risk factors, and surgical outcomes of cataract among uveitis patients. Methods: Retrospective review of 1000 patients (1582 eyes). Results: At initial presentation, cataract was diagnosed in 290 (18.3%) eyes and was most common in eyes with anterior uveitis. Fuchs’ uveitis, herpetic uveitis, and presumed tuberculous uveitis were leading clinical entities associated with cataract at presentation. During follow-up, cataract developed in additional 200 (12.6%) eyes and was most common in eyes with anterior uveitis. Significant risk factors at presentation included age >18 years, female gender, presence of keratic precipitates, hypopyon, and posterior synechiae. Among the 490 eyes with cataract, 204 underwent cataract extraction during follow-up period. Best corrected vision of ≥20/40 was achieved in 122 (60.1%) eyes. Conclusions: Incidence of cataract differed depending on anatomic and etiologic diagnoses of uveitis. There is a significant association between severity of inflammation at presentation and development of cataract.