Intraocular Inflammation Associated with Ocular Toxoplasmosis: Relationships at Initial Examination
Accepted 3 September 2008.
Purpose
To describe characteristics of intraocular inflammation in eyes with active ocular toxoplasmosis and to identify relationships between signs of inflammation, complications (including elevated intraocular pressure [IOP]), other disease features, and host characteristics.
We reviewed the medical records of 210 patients with toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis at seven international sites (North America, South America, and Europe) for information from the first examination at each site during which patients had active retinal lesions. Signs of inflammation included anterior chamber (AC) cells and flare and vitreous humor cells and haze. Retinal lesion characteristics included size (≤1 disc area [DA] or >1 DA) and presence or absence of macular involvement.
Results
AC cells and flare were related to vitreous inflammatory reactions (P ≤ .041). One or more signs of increased inflammation were related to the following factors: older patient age, larger retinal lesions, and extramacular location. In 30% of involved eyes, there was evidence of elevated IOP (despite use of glaucoma medications by some patients); other complications were uncommon. IOP of more than 21 mm Hg was associated with both increased AC cells and elevated flare (both P ≤ .001) and with macular involvement (P = .009). Inflammation seemed to be more severe among patients in Brazil than among those at other sites.
Conclusions
There is substantial variation between patients in the severity of intraocular inflammation associated with ocular toxoplasmosis, attributable to multiple host- and disease-related factors. Results suggest that disease characteristics also vary in different areas of the world. Elevated IOP at initial examination reflects the severity of inflammation.
aConsultores Oftalmológicos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
bOcular Inflammatory Disease Center, Jules Stein Eye Institute and the Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
cKing's College, St Thomas' Campus, London, United Kingdom
dFC Donders Institute of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
eDepartment of Ophthalmology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
fFrancis I. Proctor Foundation, and the Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
gUniversitatsklinik fur Augenheikunde unde Optometrie, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
ABSTRACT