Uveitis in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis

News
Article

A study found that children with early-onset atopic dermatitis have a higher risk of developing uveitis and should be closely monitored for its onset.

8 years old child with red skin- enterovirus infection, diathesis, urticaria or allergy symptoms. Redness and peeling of the skin on the body. (Image credit: ©Evgen/AdobeStock)

(Image credit: ©Evgen/AdobeStock)

Taiwanese investigators found in their cohort study that children with early-onset atopic dermatitis had an increased risk of developing uveitis and should be carefully observed to identify that onset.1 The study was led by Yung-Yu Chu, MD, from the Department of Ophthalmology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.

The researchers retrospectively evaluated the electronic health records of US patients in TriNetX, a collaborative research network, to identify patients with early-onset atopic dermatitis. The study also included matched controls without atopic dermatitis and excluded patients with uveitis before atopic dermatitis was diagnosis. The primary outcome was the hazard ratio (HR) for developing pediatric uveitis in the atopic dermatitis cohort compared with the matched controls, the authors explained.

The search of the health records identified 114,889 patients in the atopic dermatitis and control cohorts; the respective mean patient ages were 0.5 year and 0.6 years.

The results showed that 94 patients with atopic dermatitis developed pediatric uveitis compared with 58 controls (HR, 1.92 [95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-2.66]).

The results also found that patients in the atopic dermatitis cohort who were not treated with dupilumab (Dupixent, Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals), which is approved to treat the disease (89 of 113, 284 [0.08%] vs 59 of 113, 284 [0.05%]; HR, 1.77 [95% CI, 1.27-2.46]), and patients without autoimmune conditions (80 of 114, 425 [0.07%] vs 61 of 114,425 [0.05%]; HR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.09-2.12]) also had an increased risk of developing uveitis.

The severity of atopic dermatitis also was an important factor, in that those with severe diseasehad a higher risk of developing pediatric uveitis compared with those with nonsevereatopic dermatitis (12 of 3,004 [0.40%] vs 97 of 126,482 [0.08%]; HR, 3.64 [95% CI, 2.00-6.66]), Dr. Chu and colleagues reported.

Investigators concluded, “This cohort study of children with early-onset AD found an elevated risk of pediatric uveitis compared with matched controls, independent of autoimmune conditions or dupilumab use. These findings support the potential need to consider ophthalmologic monitoring in children with early-onset AD to try to detect and subsequently manage uveitis if it develops.”

They also advised that the relationship between atopic dermatitis and pediatric uveitis may be underexplored and, therefore, warrants large-scale, multicenter studies.

Reference
  1. Chu Y-Y, Sung C-H, Lin Y-S, et al. Risk of developing pediatric uveitis among patients with early-onset atopic dermatitis.JAMA Ophthalmol.Published online April 3, 2025. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2025.0366

Newsletter

Keep your retina practice on the forefront—subscribe for expert analysis and emerging trends in retinal disease management.

Recent Videos
WIO 2024: An educator's perspective on shattering glass ceilings in ophthalmology
Hannah Chiu, MD, FRCSC, highlights some of the early benefits of an AI-operated telephone call system for postoperative patient care at WIO 2024
Retinal Inner Layer Disorganization and OCT in Uveitic Macular Edema: Insights from Dr. Amitha Domalpally
ARVO 2024: Study Reveals Faricimab's Potential for Extended Dosing in nAMD
TENAYA, LUCERNE year 2 data reveals promising results for faricimab
How to diagnose geographic atrophy earlier
World Sight Day 2022: Eye care professionals share what global vision means to them
Samsara Vision update: Concerto trial recruiting patients with late-stage AMD
Understanding fluid dynamics in wet macular degeneration
YOSEMITE, RHINE treat-and-extend data show favorable results for faricimab for the treatment of DME
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.