Neoplasia and intraocular inflammation: From masquerade syndromes to immunotherapy-induced uveitis

Vitreoretinal Lymphoma in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis with a History of Methotrexate-associated Lymphoproliferative Disorders

Methotrexate (MTX) may induce immunosuppression and facilitate the onset of lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD). Most cases of MTX-LPD occur in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; the incidence is high in Japan. Vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) is a rare non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that can masquerade as steroid-resistant chronic uveitis, leading to fatal diagnostic delay. A 68-year-old woman exhibited optic disc swelling and retinal vasculitis causing floaters in the right eye. She was undergoing long-term MTX treatment for rheumatoid arthritis; she previously had been diagnosed with MTX-LPD, which regressed upon discontinuation of MTX. Steroid therapy was ineffective for optic disc swelling and retinal vasculitis; her best-corrected visual acuity decreased to 20/400. Vitreous biopsy revealed VRL, which was successfully treated with high-dose MTX-based systemic chemotherapy and intravitreal injections of MTX. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of VRL in a patient with an autoimmune disease who have a history of MTX-LPD.

Anterior Chamber Cytology Confirms the Diagnosis of T-cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia Masquerading as Viral Retinal Necrosis

PURPOSE

To describe a case of T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) masquerading as viral retinal necrosis (VRN).

CASE PRESENTATION

A 75-year-old-man with a history of T-PLL in complete remission complained of an acute vision loss in his right and only eye. Ophthalmic examination demonstrated the presence of anterior chamber cells, mild vitritis, and peripheral retinal whitening with intraretinal hemorrhages evocative of VRN. While the anterior chamber tap came back negative for HSV, VZV, and CMV, cytology performed on the aqueous humor described the presence of leukemic cells.

CONCLUSION

T-PLL can rarely masquerade as a viral retinal necrosis. Diagnostic work-up should therefore always rule out the infectious causes of retinitis. Anterior chamber tap can sometimes prove useful in the diagnosis of T-PLL even in the absence of a hypopyon, avoiding the need for vitrectomy.

Mimickers of anterior uveitis, scleritis and misdiagnoses- tips and tricks for the cornea specialist

BACKGROUND

Anterior uveitis, inflammation of the anterior chamber and related structures, is a cohort of diseases that can present to almost any general or sub-specialty Ophthalmology practice. Its features classically involve anterior chamber cell and flare. Below the surface of these two signs exist a panoply of diagnoses. BODY: The purpose of this review is to provide a general framework for diagnoses of anterior uveitis that are often missed as well as non-uveitic pathologies that often mimic anterior uveitis. Diagnostic deviation in either direction can have vision-threatening and rarely life-threatening consequences for patients. Using a comprehensive literature review we have collected a broad spectrum of etiologies of anterior uveitis that are easily missed and non-uveitic pathologies that can masquerade as anterior uveitis.

CONCLUSIONS

We present a focused review on specific misdiagnosed anterior uveitis pathologies and some of the conditions that can masquerade as anterior uveitis and scleritis.

Mechanisms of blood-retinal barrier disruption related to intraocular inflammation and malignancy

Blood-retinal barrier (BRB) disruption is a common accompaniment of intermediate, posterior and panuveitis causing leakage into the retina and macular oedema resulting in vision loss. It is much less common in anterior uveitis or in patients with intraocular lymphoma who may have marked signs of intraocular inflammation. New drugs used for chemotherapy (cytarabine, immune checkpoint inhibitors, BRAF inhibitors, EGFR inhibitors, bispecific anti-EGFR inhibitors, MET receptor inhibitors and Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors) can also cause different types of uveitis and BRB disruption. As malignant disease itself can cause uveitis, particularly from breast, lung and gastrointestinal tract cancers, it can be clinically difficult to sort out the cause of BRB disruption. Immunosuppression due to malignant disease and/or chemotherapy can lead to infection which can also cause BRB disruption and intraocular infection. In this paper we address the pathophysiology of BRB disruption related to intraocular inflammation and malignancy, methods for estimating the extent and effect of the disruption and examine why some types of intraocular inflammation and malignancy cause BRB disruption and others do not. Understanding this may help sort and manage these patients, as well as devise future therapeutic approaches.

Masquerade syndrome: A review of uveitic imposters

Masquerade syndromes in uveitis are complex clinical conditions where non-inflammatory diseases mimic uveitic manifestations, often leading to diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. This review delves into the diverse spectrum of masquerade syndromes, categorizing them into neoplastic and non-neoplastic entities. We explore the prevalence of primary intraocular lymphoma, leukaemia, retinoblastoma, and other malignancies, as well as conditions like retinitis pigmentosa and endophthalmitis that can present as uveitis. Through detailed analysis of symptoms, diagnostic methods, and treatment approaches, the review emphasizes the importance of considering masquerade syndromes in differential diagnoses to prevent mismanagement. The synthesis of current knowledge aims to enhance clinicians' ability to discern these complex presentations, advocating for a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and care, thereby improving patient outcomes in cases of uveitic masquerade syndromes.

Presentation, Diagnostic Testing and Initial Treatment of Vitreoretinal Lymphoma

PURPOSE

Vitreoretinal lymphoma is a malignancy with high mortality. Incidence is rare, and there is a lack of medical evidence to direct management. This work describes presentation, diagnostic testing, and first treatment approaches in a recently diagnosed and treated patient cohort.

DESIGN

Clinical registry-based observational study.

SUBJECTS

Forty-eight women and 32 men (age range, 32-91 years; median age, 64 years) diagnosed with vitreoretinal lymphoma.

METHODS

An international network of ophthalmologists reported clinical features and management of patients presenting with vitreoretinal lymphoma between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022 via an electronic platform.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Visual acuity at presentation (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution [logMAR]); basis for diagnosis; first treatment.

RESULTS

Vitreoretinal lymphoma was bilateral at presentation in 65% of patients (n = 52) and an initial site of lymphoma in 78% (n = 62). Of 127 eyes with lymphoma at presentation, vitreous was involved in 89% (n = 113) and was the only involved eye tissue in 40% (n = 51), and retina was involved in 46% (n = 59) and was the only involved eye tissue in 9% (n = 11). Median logMAR visual acuity of the worse-seeing eye was 0.50. The lymphoma was diagnosed from ocular specimens in 80% of patients (64/80), usually vitreous (57/64 patients [89%]), and on other clinical information in 20% of patients (16/80). Cellular studies were performed on ocular specimens from 59 of 64 patients (92%), most often cytology. Tumor gene analysis was used in 21 of 64 patients (33%), and cytokine assays were used in 13 of 64 patients (20%). For 76 patients (95%), treatment was initiated within 6 months of diagnosis and included ocular (38/76 [48%]), extraocular (17/76 [21%]), and ocular plus extraocular (21/76 [26%]) approaches. Intravitreal methotrexate was the most common ocular treatment (83/87 eyes [95%]).

CONCLUSIONS

Using data collected from 80 patients diagnosed with vitreoretinal lymphoma since 2020, we show that visual impairment is common, and that management often involves diagnosis by cellular tests and treatment with intravitreal chemotherapy.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S)

Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Uveitis masquerade syndromes: An approach to diagnosis

Uveitis masquerade syndromes are a diverse group of clinical entities which mimic conventional immune-mediated uveitis due to the presence of inflammatory signs but are resistant to anti-inflammatory therapy. Misdiagnosis hinders appropriate management in these conditions and may result in poor outcomes. This review discusses commonly encountered neoplastic and non-neoplastic disease processes that masquerade as intraocular inflammation with a focus on relevant clinical features and adjunctive investigations that are helpful in reaching a correct diagnosis.

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Processing of Anterior Segment OCT Images in the Diagnosis of Vitreoretinal Lymphoma

Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) allows the explore not only the anterior chamber but also the front part of the vitreous cavity. Our cross-sectional single-centre study investigated whether AS-OCT can distinguish between vitreous involvement due to vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) and vitritis in uveitis. We studied AS-OCT images from 28 patients (11 with biopsy-proven VRL and 17 with differential diagnosis uveitis) using publicly available radiomics software written in MATLAB. Patients were divided into two balanced groups: training and testing. Overall, 3260/3705 (88%) AS-OCT images met our defined quality criteria, making them eligible for analysis. We studied five different sets of grey-level samplings (16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 levels), finding that 128 grey levels performed the best. We selected the five most effective radiomic features ranked by the ability to predict the class (VRL or uveitis). We built a classification model using the xgboost python function; through our model, 87% of eyes were correctly diagnosed as VRL or uveitis, regardless of exam technique or lens status. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) in the 128 grey-level model were 0.95 [CI 0.94, 0.96] and 0.84 for training and testing datasets, respectively. This preliminary retrospective study highlights how AS-OCT can support ophthalmologists when there is clinical suspicion of VRL.

Stepwise approach for fundus imaging in the diagnosis and management of posterior uveitis

An array of retinochoroid imaging modalities aid in comprehensive evaluation of the immunopathological changes in the retina and choroid, forming the core component for the diagnosis and management of inflammatory disorders such as uveitis. The recent technological breakthroughs have led to the development of imaging platforms that can evaluate the layers of retina and choroid and the structural and functional alteration in these tissues. Ophthalmologists heavily rely on imaging modalities such as dye-based angiographies (fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography), optical coherence tomography, fundus autofluorescence, as well as dye-less angiography such as optical coherence tomography angiograph,y for establishing a precise diagnosis and understanding the pathophysiology of the diseases. Furthermore, these tools are now being deployed with a 'multimodal' approach for swift and accurate diagnosis. In this comprehensive review, we outline the imaging platforms used for evaluation of posterior uveitis and discuss the organized, algorithmic approach for the assessment of the disorders. Additionally, we provide an insight into disease-specific characteristic pathological changes and the established strategies to rule out disorders with overlapping features on imaging.

Epidemiology and survival outcomes of patients with primary intraocular lymphoma: a population-based analysis

BACKGROUND

Primary intraocular lymphoma (PIOL) is a rare malignancy with a poor prognosis, but its optimal therapy remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to analyze the epidemiology and survival outcomes of PIOL patients based on a population-based cancer registry in the United States.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with PIOL between 1992 and 2018 were identified from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program. The patients were divided into two groups: those aged < 60 years and ≥ 60 years. We used the chi-squared test to analyze the differences between the two groups. Descriptive analyses were performed to analyze epidemiological characteristics and treatment. The likely prognostic factors were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

The overall incidence of PIOL was 0.23/1,000,000, which was steadily increasing from 1992 to 2018, with an annual percentage change of 2.35. In total, 326 patients (mean age, 66.1 years) with PIOL were included in this study, 72.1% were aged ≥ 60 years, 84.4% were White, and 60.4% were female. The most common pathological type was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but in patients aged < 60 years, extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue was the most common. The disease-specific survival rates were 74.2% and 61.5% 5 and 10 years after diagnosis, respectively. Survival analysis found that surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy did not lead to better prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

PIOL is a rare disease with poor prognosis, and its incidence has been increasing for nearly 30 years. It usually affects people aged ≥ 60 years, and DLBCL is the most common pathological type of PIOL. Patients aged < 60 years and with non-DLBCL type have improved survival. Survival of PIOL has improved in recent years.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Vitreous Cytology in Patients with Vitreoretinal Lymphoma

(1) Background: To determine the diagnostic value of vitreous cytology in patients with vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) and evaluate its diagnostic accuracy relative to that of other diagnostic tests. (2) Methods: In total, 38 eyes from 38 patients with VRL who underwent diagnostic vitrectomy and were followed up for at least 6 months were analyzed. The clinical manifestations and VRL diagnostic rates for all diagnostic tests were determined. (3) Results: The presence of vitreous cells/opacity was the most common ophthalmic finding (97.4%), followed by sub-retinal pigment epithelial infiltration (65.8%) and retinal hemorrhage (21.1%). The VRL diagnostic rates were 89.3% for interleukin (IL)-10 levels > 50 pg/mL; 82.1% for IL-10/IL-6 ratios > 1; 60.0% and 63.3% for immunoglobulin heavy chain and kappa light chain clonality assays, respectively; and 44.4% for vitreous cytology. The VRL diagnostic rate for vitreous cytology was significantly lower in the steroid pretreatment group than in the non-steroid pretreatment group (p = 0.007). (4) Conclusions: The VRL detection rate for vitreous cytology was lower than that for the other tests, especially in patients who received steroid pretreatment. These findings suggest that even if vitreous cytology findings are negative, other tests and characteristic fundus findings should be evaluated to confirm VRL diagnosis.

APRIL and BAFF play a key role in differentiating vitreoretinal lymphoma from uveitis

BACKGROUND

Early diagnosis of vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) is critical for the successful treatment of this rare intraocular malignancy. However, fast and reliable diagnosis of VRL in patients presenting with intermediate or posterior non-infectious uveitis remains a challenge. A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) and B-cell activating factor (BAFF) are vital factors in the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and prognosis of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) and systemic autoimmune diseases. However, their utility as biomarkers for the diagnosis of VRL and uveitis remains unclear.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, we analyzed APRIL and BAFF levels in the aqueous humor (AH) of 43 eyes of 40 patients, including 23 eyes of 20 patients with VRL, eight eyes of eight patients with uveitis, and 12 eyes of 12 patients with other ocular diseases (OODs). Additionally, we measured their levels after induction of chemotherapy in five eyes of five patients with VRL.

RESULTS

AH levels of APRIL reliably distinguished VRL from uveitis, with a specificity of 78.3% and sensitivity of 75%. BAFF also showed similar potential. Serial AH analysis of patients with VRL during chemotherapy demonstrated a corresponding decline in AH levels of APRIL and BAFF.

CONCLUSION

This study extends the spectrum of valuable diagnostic biomarkers for VRL and uveitis. In patients with uveitis, the assessment of AH APRIL may help accelerate the diagnosis of VRL. Moreover, our results underline the important role of APRIL and BAFF in therapeutic monitoring of VRL.

Ocular Inflammation Induced by Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Ocular immunotherapy-related adverse events (IRAEs), although rare, can be sight-threatening. Our objective was to analyze ocular IRAEs diagnosed in France from the marketing of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs) until June 2021 and to review the literature. We collected the cases of 28 patients (36 ocular IRAEs), occurring after an average of 17 weeks (±19). Forty-six percent of patients were treated for metastatic melanoma. Anti-PD1 agents were responsible for 57% of the IRAEs. Anterior uveitis was the most common (44%), followed by panuveitis (28%). Of 25 uveitis cases, 80% were bilateral and 60% were granulomatous. We found one case with complete Vogt-Koyanagi–Harada syndrome and one case of birdshot retinochoroidopathy. The other IRAEs were eight ocular surface disorders, one optic neuropathy, and one inflammatory orbitopathy. Seventy percent of the IRAEs were grade 3 according to the common terminology of AEs. ICPIs were discontinued in 60% of patients and 50% received local corticosteroids alone. The literature review included 230 uveitis cases, of which 7% were granulomatous. The distributions of ICPIs, cancer, and type of uveitis were similar to our cohort. Ocular IRAEs appeared to be easily controlled by local or systemic corticosteroids and did not require routine discontinuation of ICPIs. Further work is still warranted to define the optimal management of ocular IRAEs.

Non-vasogenic cystoid maculopathies

Besides cystoid macular edema due to a blood-retinal barrier breakdown, another type of macular cystoid spaces referred to as non-vasogenic cystoid maculopathies (NVCM) may be detected on optical coherence tomography but not on fluorescein angiography. Various causes may disrupt retinal cell cohesion or impair retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Müller cell functions in the maintenance of retinal dehydration, resulting in cystoid spaces formation. Tractional causes include vitreomacular traction, epiretinal membranes and myopic foveoschisis. Surgical treatment does not always allow cystoid space resorption. In inherited retinal dystrophies, cystoid spaces may be part of the disease as in X-linked retinoschisis or enhanced S-cone syndrome, or occur occasionally as in bestrophinopathies, retinitis pigmentosa and allied diseases, congenital microphthalmia, choroideremia, gyrate atrophy and Bietti crystalline dystrophy. In macular telangiectasia type 2, cystoid spaces and cavitations do not depend on the fluid leakage from telangiectasia. Various causes affecting RPE function may result in NVCM such as chronic central serous chorioretinopathy and paraneoplastic syndromes. Non-exudative age macular degeneration may also be complicated by intraretinal cystoid spaces in the absence of fluorescein leakage. In these diseases, cystoid spaces occur in a context of retinal cell loss. Various causes of optic atrophy, including open-angle glaucoma, result in microcystoid spaces in the inner nuclear layer due to a retrograde transsynaptic degeneration. Lastly, drug toxicity may also induce cystoid maculopathy. Identifying NVCM on multimodal imaging, including fluorescein angiography if needed, allows guiding the diagnosis of the causative disease and choosing adequate treatment when available.

The International Vitreoretinal B-Cell Lymphoma Registry: a protocol paper

INTRODUCTION

Vitreoretinal lymphoma is a rare ocular cancer with high morbidity and mortality despite treatment. Diagnosis by cytopathology is often delayed, and various molecular and image-based investigations have been developed. Diverse treatments are used, but there is a limited medical evidence to differentiate their effectiveness. We designed an international registry that would collect diagnostic, treatment and outcomes data, to establish new evidence for the management of this cancer.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The International Vitreoretinal B-Cell Lymphoma Registry will accrue data retrospectively for individuals aged 18 years or older, diagnosed with new or recurrent vitreoretinal B-cell lymphoma on or after 1 January 2020. A steering committee of subspecialised ophthalmologists identified 20 key clinical data items that describe patient demographics, tissue involvements, diagnostic testing, ocular and systemic treatments and treatment complications, and visual acuity and survival outcomes. Customised software was designed to permit collection of these data across a single baseline and multiple follow-up forms. The platform collects data without identifiers and at 3 month reporting intervals. Outcomes of the project will include: (1) descriptions of clinical presentations, and diagnostic and therapeutic preferences; (2) associations between clinical presentations, and diagnostics and treatments, and between diagnostics and treatments (assessed by ORs with 95% CIs); and (3) estimations of rates of vision loss, and progression-free and overall survival (assessed by Kaplan-Meier estimates).

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The registry has received Australia-wide approval by a national human research ethics committee. Sites located outside Australia are required to seek local human research ethics review. Results generated through the registry will be disseminated primarily by peer-reviewed publications that are expected to inform clinical practice, as well as educational materials.

Approach to childhood glaucoma: A review

Childhood glaucoma represents a heterogenous group of rare ocular conditions that may result in significant sight threatening complications related to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). It can be classified as either primary or secondary and the latter may have systemic associations. This review will be based on the work of the childhood glaucoma research network (CGRN) and will focus on the diagnosis and management of the most common types of childhood glaucoma. These include primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) and juvenile open angle glaucoma (JOAG) as well as secondary causes of glaucoma associated with non-acquired ocular anomalies (Axenfeld-Rieger anomaly; Peters anomaly and Aniridia), glaucoma associated with systemic disease (Sturge Weber syndrome and Neurofibromatosis), those due to acquired conditions (Uveitic glaucoma, trauma and tumours) and importantly glaucoma following cataract surgery.

Clinical Features, Diagnosis, Management and Prognosis of Primary Intraocular Lymphoma

Purpose

To evaluate the clinical features, diagnostic techniques, various treatment strategies and prognosis of primary intraocular lymphoma (PIOL).

Methods

The databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Ovid were searched from inception to March 2021 to identify relevant studies. Statistical analyses were performed with R version 3.3.1.

Results

87 studies involving 1484 patients (aged from 14 to 90 years old) were finally included. The pooling results indicated PIOL patients were female, elderly, binocular and B cell type dominated. About 19% have central nervous system (CNS) involvement at the first visit. During follow-up, the incidence of CNS involvement, death rate, 2-year and 5-year survival rate, 1-year and 2-year progression-free survival, and recurrence rate were 58%, 33%, 82%, 70%, 88%, 70%, 44%, respectively. The most common recurrent site was CNS. The delayed diagnosis rate was 85%, the misdiagnosed rate was 64%. The diagnostic technique with the highest positive rate was IL10:IL6&gt;1 of aqueous (98%). The most common symptoms, signs, FFA and OCT features were blurring of vision (72%), vitreous inflammatory opacity (92%), FA/FAF reversal (91%) and hyper-reflective foci in posterior vitreous (53%), respectively. The prognosis of PIOL patients without CNS involvement was obviously better than those with CNS involvement. Overall, intravitreal injection of chemotherapy drug plus systemic chemotherapy (IV+CT) could achieve satisfactory prognosis, the combination of local radiotherapy (RT) could further decrease the recurrent and death rate.

Conclusion

PIOL patients with CNS involvement had significantly worse prognosis. The aqueous humor examination should be regarded as first-line and routine diagnostic technique. IV+CT could achieve satisfactory prognosis, the combination of RT was also beneficial.

Broad locations of antigenic regions for anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies in paraneoplastic retinopathy with retinal ON bipolar cell dysfunction

PURPOSE

Cancer-associated retinal ON bipolar cell dysfunction (CARBD), which includes melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR), has been reported to be caused by autoantibodies against the molecules expressed in ON bipolar cells, including TRPM1. The purpose of this study was to determine the antigenic regions of the autoantibodies against TRPM1 in the sera of CARBD patients, in whom we previously detected anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies.

METHODS

The antigenic regions against TRPM1 in the sera of eight CARBD patients were examined by Western blots using HEK293T cells transfected with the plasmids expressing FLAG-tagged TRPM1 fragments. The clinical course of these patients was also documented.

RESULTS

The clinical course differed among the patients. The electroretinograms (ERGs) and symptoms were improved in three patients, deteriorated in one patient, remained unchanged for a long time in one patient, and were not followable in three patients. Seven of the eight sera possessed multiple antigenic regions: two sera contained at least four antigen recognition regions, and three sera had at least three regions. The antigen regions were spread over the entire TRPM1 protein: five sera in the N-terminal intracellular domain, six sera in the transmembrane-containing region, and six sera in the C-terminal intracellular domain. No significant relationship was observed between the location of the antigen epitope and the patients' clinical course.

CONCLUSIONS

The antigenic regions of anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies in CARBD patients were present not only in the N-terminal intracellular domain, which was reported in an earlier report, but also in the transmembrane-containing region and in the C-terminal intracellular domain. In addition, the antigenic regions for TRPM1 were found to vary among the CARBD patients examined, and most of the sera had multiple antigenic regions.

Differential Diagnosis of Vitritis in Adult Patients

The term "vitritis" refers to the presence of a cellular infiltration of the vitreous body, usually in the context of an intraocular inflammation, but not exclusively. Intermediate uveitis is the most prominent cause of vitritis, including infectious and auto-immune/auto-inflammatory etiologies. Corticosteroids and immunosuppressive therapies should not be started before ruling out the infectious causes of vitritis, especially in immunosuppressed individuals. Other situations can mimic intermediate uveitis such as amyloidosis and ocular tumors. Primary intraocular lymphoma should always be suspected in case of vitreous infiltrations in individuals aged over 50 years.

Ibrutinib-related uveitis: A report of two severe cases

INTRODUCTION

Ibrutinib is a small-molecule drug approved for the treatment of haematological disorders and is known to be associated with visual disturbances, but uveitis has not yet been reported as an adverse effect of this medication. We present two cases of ibrutinib-associated severe uveitis in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

CASE DESCRIPTION

Our first case is a 65-year-old woman who presented with acute onset of bilateral fibrinous anterior uveitis 1 day after starting ibrutinib. Her vision was hand movements in the right eye and 20/120 in the left with hyperaemic discs and subretinal fluid. Ibrutinib was stopped and she experienced a significant improvement under local and oral steroid treatment. The second case is a 64-year-old male with subacute onset of bilateral hypertensive anterior uveitis with pupillary seclusion and right eye hyphaema. He was on ibrutinib for the past 9 months. His vision at presentation was 20/80 and 20/60 for the right and left eye, respectively. He responded poorly to local steroid treatment until ibrutinib was stopped due to cardiac side-effects, after which his uveitis resolved and treatment was stopped.

CONCLUSION

The temporal association between changes in ibrutinib treatment and our patients' ocular inflammation suggests a causative link. Ibrutinib increases Th1-based immune responses which is proposed as a mechanism for drug-induced uveitis. Its antiplatelet effect may explain the fibrinous nature of the inflammation and hyphaema.

Epidemiology of uveitis in Japan: a 2016 retrospective nationwide survey

PURPOSE

To investigate the epidemiology of uveitis in Japan and assess its changes over time.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective multicenter study METHODS: Sixty-six hospitals in Japan with uveitis specialty clinics participated in this retrospective nationwide survey. A questionnaire was sent to each hospital to survey the total number of patients who made a first visit to the outpatient uveitis clinic of each hospital between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017. The diagnosis of uveitis was based on guidelines when available or on commonly used diagnostic criteria.

RESULTS

In 2016, new patients with uveitis accounted for 3.2% of the total number of new patients with ophthalmic diseases. A total of 5378 patients were enrolled in the survey; 3408 cases could be classified with a specific uveitis entity, and 1970 cases were described as unclassified intraocular inflammation. Among the classified cases, the most frequent disease was sarcoidosis (10.6%), followed by Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (8.1%), herpetic iritis (6.5%), acute anterior uveitis (5.5%), sclerouveitis (4.4%), Behçet's disease (4.2%), malignant disease (2.6%), acute retinal necrosis (1.7%), Posner-Schlossman syndrome (1.7%), and diabetic iritis (1.4%). The rates of sarcoidosis, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, and Behçet's disease were similar; however, the rate of herpes iritis increased (4.2-6.5%) when compared with the 2009 survey.

CONCLUSIONS

Some changes were observed between the previous nationwide surveys (2002 and 2009) and the present survey. It must be valuable to continue such nationwide epidemiologic surveys at regular intervals.

Review of de novo uveitis in older adults presenting to a large tertiary centre

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The primary aim of this study was to describe the causes of de novo uveitis in individuals 60 years and older. Secondary objectives were to determine the incidence of intraocular lymphoma and the clinical predictors of lymphoma.

METHODS

Retrospective chart review of all subjects presenting to the uveitis service at Auckland District Health Board (Auckland, New Zealand) between January 2006 and October 2020 RESULTS: 686 subjects (900 eyes) were aged ≥60 years at first presentation with uveitis, representing 23.4% of all subjects with uveitis during the study period. Non-infectious aetiology occurred in 631 (70.1%) eyes and infectious etiologies occurred in 269 (29.9%) eyes. The most frequent causes were idiopathic (36.3%), herpes zoster (14.8%), HLAB27 (8.7%) and sarcoidosis (4.8%). Twenty (2.2%) eyes of 13 (1.9%) subjects had a diagnosis of lymphoma. Lymphoma represented 11.2% of all intermediate uveitis. Subjects diagnosed with lymphoma did not develop posterior synechiae, epiretinal membrane, cystoid macular oedema or ocular hypertension.

CONCLUSIONS

Intraocular lymphoma was uncommon in the overall cohort, but an important cause of intermediate uveitis. A diagnosis of lymphoma needs to be considered in any older subject with de novo intermediate uveitis. The lack of posterior synechiae, cystoid macular oedema, epiretinal membrane and ocular hypertension further increases the suspicion for lymphoma.

Uveitis as an Open Window to Systemic Inflammatory Diseases

Spondyloarthritis (Spa), Behçet's disease (BD) and sarcoidosis are major systemic inflammatory diseases worldwide. They are all multisystem pathologies and share a possible ocular involvement, especially uveitis. We hereby describe selected cases who were referred by ophthalmologists to our internal medicine department for unexplained uveitis. Physical examination and/or the use of laboratory and imaging investigations allowed to make a diagnosis of a systemic inflammatory disease in a large proportion of patients. In our tertiary referral center, 75 patients have been diagnosed with Spa (n = 20), BD (n = 9), or sarcoidosis (n = 46) in the last two years. There was a significant delay in the diagnosis of Spa-associated uveitis. Screening strategies using Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-B27 determination and sacroiliac magnetic resonance imaging in patients suffering from chronic low back pain and/or psoriasis helped in the diagnosis. BD's uveitis affects young people from both sexes and all origins and usually presents with panuveitis and retinal vasculitis. The high proportion of sarcoidosis in our population is explained by the use of chest computed tomography (CT) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography CT that helped to identify smaller hilar or mediastinal involvement and allowed to further investigate those patients, especially in the elderly. Our results confirm how in these sight- and potentially life-threatening diseases a prompt diagnosis is mandatory and benefits from a multidisciplinary approach.

Identification and characterization of novel TRPM1 autoantibodies from serum of patients with melanoma-associated retinopathy

Melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR) is a rare paraneoplastic retinal disorder usually occurring in the context of metastatic melanoma. Patients present with night blindness, photopsias and a constriction of the visual field. MAR is an auto-immune disorder characterized by the production of autoantibodies targeting retinal proteins, especially autoantibodies reacting to the cation channel TRPM1 produced in melanocytes and ON-bipolar cells. TRPM1 has at least three different isoforms which vary in the N-terminal region of the protein. In this study, we report the case of three new MAR patients presenting different anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies reacting to the three isoforms of TRPM1 with variable binding affinity. Two sera recognized all isoforms of TRPM1, while one recognized only the two longest isoforms upon immunolocalization studies on overexpressing cells. Similarly, the former two sera reacted with all TRPM1 isoforms on western blot, but an immunoprecipitation enrichment step was necessary to detect all isoforms with the latter serum. In contrast, all sera labelled ON-bipolar cells on Tprm1+/+ but not on Trpm1-/- mouse retina as shown by co-immunolocalization. This confirms that the MAR sera specifically detect TRPM1. Most likely, the anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies of different patients vary in affinity and concentration. In addition, the binding of autoantibodies to TRPM1 may be conformation-dependent, with epitopes being inaccessible in some constructs (truncated polypeptides versus full-length TRPM1) or applications (western blotting versus immunohistochemistry). Therefore, we propose that a combination of different methods should be used to test for the presence of anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies in the sera of MAR patients.

[Anterior Uveitis: Clinic, Diagnostic Procedure and Treatment Options]

Anterior uveitis involves inflammation of the iris and/or ciliary body and is the most common intraocular inflammation in ophthalmological practice. It can be attributed to an infectious or immune-mediated genesis or be associated with systemic diseases. Anamnesis and (guiding) findings during the slit lamp examination often already provide important information on pathogenesis and thus on further diagnostic clarification and therapy. This includes the assessment of laterality, acute or chronic course of the disease and morphological criteria (granulomatous/non-granulomatous). The guideline-compliant procedure recommends further diagnosis with targeted laboratory diagnostics and, if necessary, consultative examinations if the disease recurs. This is important in order to pursue a targeted treatment approach and to recognize comorbidities.

Evolving spectrum of drug-induced uveitis at the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors results from the WHO's pharmacovigilance database

PURPOSE

Drug-induced uveitis is a rare but sight-threatening condition. We seek to determine the spectrum of drug-induced uveitis at the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

METHODS

Retrospective pharmacovigilance study based on adverse drug reactions reported within VigiBase, the WHO international pharmacovigilance database. We included deduplicated individual case safety reports (ICSRs) reported as 'uveitis' at Preferred Term level according to the Medical Dictionary for Drug Regulatory Activities between 1967 and 04/28/2019. We performed a case/non-case analysis to study if suspected drug-induced uveitis were differentially reported for each suspected treatment compared to the full database. We excluded drugs with potential indication bias.

RESULTS

1404 ICSRs corresponding to 37 drugs had a significant over-reporting signal with a median age of 57 [42-68] years and 45.7% of males. We identified five major groups of treatments: bisphosphonates (26.9%), non-antiviral anti-infectious drugs (25.4%), protein kinase inhibitors (15.5%), ICI (15.0%), and antiviral drugs (11.1%). Severe visual loss was reported in 12.1% of cases. ICI and protein kinase inhibitors were the most recently emerging signals. The time to onset between first infusion and uveitis was significantly different between groups ranging from 5 days [2-19] in the bisphosphonate group to 138.5 [47.25-263.75] in protein kinase inhibitors group (p < 0.0001). Anti-Programmed Cell death 1 represented more than 70% of ICI-induced uveitis. We identified Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH)-like syndrome as being associated with ICI use.

CONCLUSIONS

The spectrum of drug-induced uveitis has changed with the evolution of pharmacopeia and the recent emergence of ICIs. VKH-like syndrome has been reported with ICI and protein kinase inhibitors therapy.

Coats-like response in tubercular subretinal abscess masquerading as melanoma as the initial manifestation of miliary tuberculosis

Ocular neoplasia can masquerade as an inflammatory condition and vice-versa, which if untreated, can lead to loss of vision or even life. We present a young immunocompetent adult male referred to us as choroidal melanoma. He had a large atypical choroidal mass and exudative retinal detachment. He had no systemic complaints and ocular lesions were the first manifestation of disseminated disease. Aqueous polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was negative, but Mantoux, chest radiology, acid-fast bacilli, and caseation necrosis on pleural nodule histopathology confirmed tuberculosis (TB). While on antitubercular therapy, a rare “Coats'-like response” was noted which eventually resolved completely with treatment.