Prevalence, risk factors and management of ocular hypertension or glaucoma in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease

Background/aims: This study was performed to examine the prevalence, risk factors and treatment outcome of OHT/glaucoma in Chinese patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH).

Methods: Retrospective non-interventional case series were conducted on a total of 2281 patients with VKH referred from April 2008 to April 2019. Of these cases, 1457 had a minimum follow-up period of 3 months and were included for this study. Medical records were reviewed for demographic, ocular and treatment data.

Results: Among 2914 eyes of 1457 patients with VKH, 695 (23.9%) eyes of 425 patients (29.2%) developed OHT/glaucoma. The risk factors of OHT/glaucoma included initial BCVA of 20/200 or worse (OR=4.826), final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/50-20/100 (OR=5.341) and final BCVA of 20/200 or worse (OR=4.235), the interval between uveitis attack and referral time interval being 2 months or more (OR=3.318), more than three recurrent episodes (OR=4.177) and posterior synechiae (OR=1.785). The main possible mechanisms of OHT/glaucoma were inflammatory factor-induced open-angle OHT/glaucoma in 277 eyes (39.9%) and pupillary block arising from complete posterior synechiae in 201 eyes (28.9%). In these 695 eyes with OHT/glaucoma, normalised intraocular pressure (IOP) was achieved in 389 eyes (56.0%) following medical treatment. In the remaining 306 eyes, various surgical interventions were performed and a normalised IOP could be achieved in 249 eyes (81.4%).

Conclusion: OHT/glaucoma is a common complication in Chinese patients with VKH. Risk factors of OHT/glaucoma included worse acuity at first and final visits, the longer interval between uveitis attack and referral, more recurrent episodes and posterior synechiae.