Uveitis in the Aging Eye: Incidence, Patterns, and Differential Diagnosis

Abstract

Uveitis is a vision threatening inflammation of the eye that carries considerable morbidity. It is responsible for 10% of legal blindness in the United States and up to 25% in the developing world. Uveitis in patients more than 60 years of age is less common. The aging body has a changing response of the immune system, which might reflect a different pattern of uveitis in the elderly population. In this paper we review the incidence and patterns of uveitis in the elderly as reported in the literature and discuss changes with time. We also delineate a thorough differential diagnosis of de novo uveitis in the elderly.