Purpose: To report the frequency on presentation and subsequent incidence of ocular complications and vision loss in patients with sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) and to describe factors associated with decreased vision in the sympathizing eye.
Design: Multicenter retrospective case series.
Setting: Three academic tertiary care uveitis clinics.
Study population: Eighty-five patients with SO from 1976 to 2006.
Observation procedures: Review of existing medical records.
Main outcome measures: Incident visual acuity (VA) loss to 20/50 or worse and 20/200 or worse and the median acuity over time.
Results: Twenty-six percent of patients with SO presented with a VA of 20/200 or worse in their sympathizing eye. Further development of vision loss to 20/200 or worse occurred at the rate of 10% per person-year (PY). Ocular complications were seen in the sympathizing eye in 47% of patients at presentation; further development of new complications occurred at the rate of 40%/PY. The ocular complications most often associated with decreased vision were cataract and optic nerve abnormality. Exudative retinal detachment and active intraocular inflammation were significantly associated with poorer VA in the sympathizing eye. The benefits of corticosteroids were indirectly demonstrated as their use led to more rapid disease inactivation. Fifty-nine percent of patients maintained a VA of better than 20/50 in their sympathizing eye; and 75% maintained a VA of better than 20/200.
Conclusions: Although ocular complications were seen in many sympathizing eyes with SO, most patients maintained functional VA. The presence of an exudative retinal detachment and active intraocular inflammation correlated with poorer vision in the sympathizing eye.