Herpetic Anterior Uveitis Multicentre Longitudinal Study (The UVHER Project). Baseline Characteristics.

PURPOSE: The aim of the UVHER project is to evaluate the risk of development of optic nerve damage in patients with herpetic anterior uveitis (AU) prospectively followed over 2 years. Herein, we described the baseline characteristics.

METHODS

This is a multicentre, prospective study. An aqueous humour tap was performed. Only patients with a positive PCR were included. Clinical characteristics, optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters and visual field (VF) abnormalities were registered.

RESULTS

27 patients were included: 18 Herpes Simplex (HSV), one Varicella Zoster (VVZ), and 8Cytomegalovirus (CMV). Patients with HSV-AU had severe inflammation, iris atrophy and corneal involvement. In patients with CMV-AU, less inflammation and medium-to-large keratic precipitates were observed. OCT showed a thinner RNFL and GCL in CMV-AU patients in comparison to HSV patients. VF showed abnormalities in six cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients in the UVHER cohort showed the typical clinical manifestations of herpetic AU. In CMV patients, optic nerve damage was observed at baseline, and in HSV patients, inflammation was more severe.