Ocular Manifestations in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the Biologics Era

Background: Extra-intestinal manifestations are frequent in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ocular disorders are generally under diagnosed as they are challenging diagnosis. Aims: We assessed the prevalence of ophthalmological manifestations in patients with IBD, and investigated characteristics associated with ocular manifestations. Methods: We performed a retrospective study including patients followed for IBD and had an ophthalmologic visit from January 2013 to July 2020, among 1432 patients followed during this period. Two groups were considered: the first group included patients whose an ocular diagnosis was considered as related to IBD, and the second group including patients whose an ocular diagnosis was considered not related to IBD. Results: Among 1432 patients with IBD, eighty-seven (6.1%) patients had an ophthalmologic visit. Fifty-three patients (3.7%) were considered to have an ocular extra-intestinal manifestation or an iatrogenic effect of IBD treatment, and 34 diagnoses (2.4%) were considered not related to IBD. Inflammatory surface pathologies were the most frequent (33.2%), including 15 patients with dry eye (17.2%), 9 with blepharitis (10.3%), and 5 with chalazions (meibomian cyst) (5.7%). Uveitis was diagnosed in 13 patients (14.9%), episcleritis in 5 patients (5.7%), and scleritis in 2 patients (2.3%). Characteristics of patients with an ophthalmological diagnosis related to IBD versus not related to IBD were not statistically different. Conclusion: In our cohort, less than 5% of patients had ophthalmological extra-intestinal manifestation. The most frequent ocular diagnosis were dry eye and uveitis. No disease characteristics of IBD were found to be associated with ocular manifestations.

Automated summary

This study assessed the prevalence of ocular manifestations in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and found that dry eye and uveitis were the most common ocular diagnoses. There were no statistically significant differences in disease characteristics of IBD associated with ocular manifestations.