It’s a disease that can hide in plain sight. Pediatric uveitis - an inflammation of the uvea, which includes the iris, choroid and the ciliary body in the eye - often goes undiagnosed.
“Pediatric uveitis can be asymptomatic, and often won’t be picked up unless children are regularly screened,” says said Professor Athimalaipet Ramanan, pediatric rheumatologist at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust. “If they are not screened and diagnosed early, this asymptomatic uveitis can cause significant vision loss.”
Since Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is commonly associated with uveitis in children (accounting for more than 75 percent of cases), eye screenings are given regularly to children known to have JIA. But definitive diagnosis of JIA doesn’t always precede the onset of uveitis; for those not flagged for screenings, uveitis can easily be missed, says Dr. Ramanan.
Learn more about pediatric anterior uveitis and the importance of early diagnosis below.
