Uveitis and the Tower of Babel

Peripheral multifocal chorioretinitis with panuveitis: clinical and immunogenetic characterization in older patients

“…most forms of uveitic syndromes) is a crucial task for clinicians [17]; this includes the characterization of MCP. At present, detailed description of MCP cases is needed to be able to further subdivide them in the future, when better methods of analysis may be available.…”

The Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature Project

“…1 Members of the American Uveitis Society were given clinical vignettes and informally surveyed for this editorial 1 ; they revealed a striking difference in opinion regarding whether a particular term was appropriate to describe a hypothetical clinical situation. For example, for the first vignette, members were asked if the term pars planitis should be used in reference to a 25-year-old woman with bilateral findings of anterior chamber cells, vitreous cells, and "snowbanks" over the inferior pars plana.…”

The standardisation of uveitis nomenclature (SUN) project

“…There was limited agreement on terminology and multiple grading systems for the severity of the inflammation each with a different number of steps (e.g., the grading schema for anterior chamber cells ranged from 6 to 9 steps), leading to difficulties with interpreting the term "improvement" in the uveitis. 2 The lack of agreement on terminology led Rosenbaum and Holland to write an editorial in 1996 entitled "Uveitis and the Tower of Babel," 6 which challenged the field of uveitis to develop a consistent terminology. Source: Adapted from Reference [25].…”