Ocular Autoimmune Systemic Inflammatory Infectious Study (OASIS)—report 4: analysis and outcome of scleritis in an East Asian population

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the spectrum of scleritis from database of Ocular Autoimmune Systemic Inflammatory Infectious Study (OASIS) at a tertiary eye referral eye institute in Singapore. Clinical records of 120 patients with scleritis from a database of 2200 patients from Ocular Autoimmune Systemic Inflammatory Infectious Study (OASIS) were reviewed.Results56.6% were females, with a mean age of 48.6 ± 15.9 years. 75 (62.5%) had diffuse anterior scleritis, 25 (20.8%) had nodular anterior scleritis, 7 (5.8%) had necrotizing anterior scleritis and 13 (10.8%) had posterior scleritis. Ocular complications were observed in 53.3% of patients, including anterior uveitis (42.5%), raised intraocular pressure (12.5%), and corneal involvement (11.7%). Autoimmune causes were associated with 31 (25.8%) of patients, and 10 (8.3%) patients had an associated infective etiology, much higher than Caucasian studies. 53.3% of patients were treated with oral corticosteroids while 26.7% required immunosuppressives.ConclusionsInfective etiology needs to be considered in patients of scleritis from Asian origin. In our study and in OASIS database, scleritis was associated with systemic autoimmune disease and ocular complications.

Clinical profile of patients with anterior nodular scleritis in India

“…Bin Ismail et al . [ 12 ] reported higher rates of infectious etiology in their cohort with nodular scleritis patients. They found that 24% of patients to have an association with infectious etiology, whereas an association with systemic autoimmune disorders could be established only in 8% of patients.…”

Bilateral nodular sclerokeratitis secondary to syphilis - A case report

“…[ 5 ] While autoimmune and connective tissue disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, Wegener's granulomatosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, relapsing polychondritis, and polyarteritis nodosa are the more common associations, infectious scleritis has been reported in 4.2% to 7.5% of the cases. [ 9 ]…”

Frequently Relapsing Anterior Nodular Scleritis as the Initial Presentation of a Lethal Systemic Infection: Disseminated Tuberculosis with HIV Coinfection

“…Scleritis is a common disease in ophthalmology where more than 50% of the patients are found to have an underlying systemic illness [1][2][3][4]. e incidence of infectious aetiology in scleritis is considered to be less than 10% [1,2,4].…”

“…Tuberculosis, presenting as an ocular infection, is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and is among the few systemic infections that can cause scleritis [1,3,[5][6][7]. It is considered advisable to test for tuberculosis (TB) in tropical setting in patients presenting with scleritis where TB is considered to be endemic.…”