The Collaborative Ocular Tuberculosis Study (COTS)-1: A Multinational Review of 165 Patients with Tubercular Anterior Uveitis

Purpose: The Collaborative Ocular Tuberculosis Study (COTS) Group sought to address the diagnostic uncertainty through retrospective cohort analysis of treatment regimens and therapeutic outcomes for patients with tubercular Anterior Uveitis (TAU) across international centers. Methods: Multicentre retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with TAU between January 2004 to December 2014 that had a minimum follow-up of 1 year. Results: One hundred and sixty-five patients were included. One hundred and seven subjects received antitubercular therapy (ATT) (n = 107/165; 64.9%) with all the patients receiving topical steroid therapy. Treatment failure was noted in 17 patients (n = 17/165; 10.3%), more frequently described in patients that received ATT (n = 13/107, 12.2%), than those that did not receive ATT (n = 4/58, 6.9%). Conclusion: In this retrospective study, addition of ATT did not have any statistically significant impact on outcome in patients with TAU.