Clinical and Demographic Evaluation of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Uveitis: Twenty-Year Retrospective Study

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease that primarily affects the central nervous system, particularly in young women. MS may cause ocular inflammation, especially uveitis. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with MS-related uveitis. Material and Methods: Medical records of patients with MS-related uveitis were reviewed retrospectively and patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examinations. Results: Sixtyone eyes out of 31 patients with MS-related uveitis were enrolled, 25 (80.6%) of whom were females and 6 (19.4%) of whom were male. The mean time between ophthalmologic and neurological involvement was 5.3±4.4 years (range, 0-13 years). The mean follow-up duration of the patients in the Uvea-Behçet outpatient clinic was 91.6±70 months (range: 12- 252 months). Intermediate uveitis was the most common type of uveitis with 24 (77.4%) patients, followed by anterior uveitis with 4 (12.9%) patients and panuveitis with 3 (9.6%) patients. Bilateral involvement was present in 87.1% of cases. Keratic precipitates are shown in 57 (93.4%) of the eyes, which were all granulomatous. Uveitis attacks were reduced to below 1 attack/years in 16 out of the 20 patients who initiated immunomodulatory therapy, observed effective disease control. Conclusion: Periodic diagnostic search is important, especially on patients with bilateral granulomatous intermediate uveitis and anterior uveitis. Early diagnosis and regular follow-up are also crucial for the prognosis of uveitis associated with MS.