2022 Annual Meeting and Alumni Reunion
Category : Clinical Research Candidate : Atitaya Apivatthakakul Poster #: C2
Prevalence of Ocular Inflammatory Conditions in Patients with Small Fiber Neuropathy in a Large Healthcare System Database
Atitaya Apivatthakakul , Daniel A . Brill , Lucia Sobrin
Purpose : The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of ocular inflammatory diseases in SFN patients .
Methods : The Mass General Brigham health care system database was queried for cases defined as SFN patients with an eye exam and a diagnosis code for an ocular inflammatory disease ( episcleritis , scleritis , and neurotrophic keratopathy ). The diagnoses were verified by chart review . Patients with co-existing autoimmune / infectious diseases that are also associated with ocular inflammation were excluded . Prevalence of ocular inflammation was calculated , and clinical characteristics were determined . Controls were identified from the Mass General Brigham database with the criteria of patients without the diagnosis of SFN who had at least one eye examination by an eye doctor and no diagnosis for ocular inflammatory conditions .
Results : Results : Of 5,609 SFN patients identified , 857 had an eye examination . Of these , 42 patients had an ocular inflammatory disease , yielding a prevalence of 4.9 %. 31 ( 83.8 %) had a history of eye pain . 33 ( 78.6 %) patients were female , and 37 ( 88.1 %) had bilateral ocular disease . Mean age of ocular diagnosis was 55.7 years ( range 22-81 years ). Eight ( 19.0 %) patients had episcleritis , ten ( 23.8 %) had scleritis , and eight had neurotrophic keratopathy . Seventeen patients had at least two ocular inflammatory conditions . We identified 1,310,601 controls . 3,195 had scleritis , 2,884 had episcleritis and 210 had neurotrophic keratopathy . Ocular inflammatory conditions were significantly more common in SFN patients compared to non-SFN patients . P values all <. 0001 for scleritis , episcleritis and neurotrophic keratopathy .
Conclusions : Conclusions : Ocular inflammatory conditions , including episcleritis / scleritis , are present at a higher rate in SFN patients than in the general population