CERA

Eye conditions

Uveitis

Uveitis is an umbrella term for a group of conditions that cause inflammation in the eye. In Australia, it is most often caused by an autoimmune response, but it can occasionally be due to infections.

What is uveitis?

Uveitis is inflammation inside the eyeball. It involves the uvea – a layer of blood vessels that sits within the eyeball, under the white of the eye.

Uveitis can cause redness, pain, floaters, sensitivity to light and blurred vision. In serious cases, it can damage the eye tissue and lead to blindness.

Learn about our uveitis research

Our researchers are devoted to investigating new treatments for uveitis, as well as advancing our scientific understanding of its causes and prognosis.

How common is it?

Anyone can get uveitis but is it a relatively uncommon condition. In Australia, it affects around 20 people per 100,000 each year.

Uveitis is the third leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.

Causes and risk factors

Uveitis can occur from infections and eye injuries. But in Australia, most cases are caused by an autoimmune response. When this happens, the body’s immune system attacks the eye by mistake.

Signs and symptoms

The most common symptom of uveitis is a red, painful eye. Other symptoms include:

  • blurred vision
  • dark floating spots (‘floaters’)
  • sensitivity to light.

 

Uveitis can affect one eye or both at once. It can come on suddenly or slowly, and last for a few weeks (acute) or for months at a time (chronic). It can sometimes reoccur many times.

Diagnosis

If you have the symptoms of uveitis, it’s important to see your eye healthcare provider. If you have uveitis and it is left untreated, it can lead to loss of vision and even blindness.

Your eye healthcare provider will do a full eye exam to check for uveitis.

Treatment

There is currently no cure for uveitis. However, it’s possible to control it until it goes into remission.

You can manage uveitis with medications that reduce inflammation or suppress your immune response. These come in the form of eye drops, pills or injections.

Treatment aims to reduce inflammation and pain, prevent tissue damage and save sight.

Can it be prevented?

Uveitis cannot be prevented. But you can reduce the chance of relapse and the condition getting worse by not smoking.

CERA researchers have found a possible link between vitamin D deficiency and relapses of uveitis and uveitis activity. While more studies are needed to prove this, it’s worth getting your vitamin D checked and taking supplements if your levels are low.

Our uveitis research

Our researchers are involved in a range of studies on uveitis. A few key projects include:

  • Testing a new treatment for non-infectious uveitis.
  • Determining the best treatment for certain forms or complications of uveitis.
  • Finding the best way to use a drug called adalimumab in children with a specific form of uveitis.

 

Uveitis research at CERA is led by Associate Professor Lyndell Lim, a uveitis and medical retina subspecialist, who is also Head of Clinical Trials Research

Learn more about our uveitis research