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Researchers develop grading system for allergic ocular diseases
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Allergic ocular diseases can be effectively classified and clinically evaluated using a grading system developed by Japanese researchers, a prospective study shows.
Eiichi Uchio, MD, and colleagues established criteria for classifying and clinically evaluating the severity of allergic ocular diseases. The researchers then evaluated the effectiveness of the criteria in the diagnosis of 1,079 patients, according to the study.
"The clinical features of allergic ocular diseases are characterized by their wide variety. Clinical evaluation criteria are essential not only for objective assessment in clinical trials, but also for clinical studies on etiological aspects of [allergic ocular disease]," the authors said.
The researchers diagnosed and classified allergic conjunctivitis, atopic keratoconjunctivitis and vernal keratoconjunctivitis based on local and systemic clinical findings. Specifically, 10 objective conjunctival, limbal and corneal lesion findings were graded on a 4-point scale. The total score was used as the clinical score, with a highest value of 30.
Among the 1,079 patients, 876 (81.2%) were diagnosed with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, 115 (10.6%) with perennial allergic conjunctivitis, 47 (4.4%) with atopic keratoconjunctivitis and 41 (3.8%) with vernal keratoconjunctivitis, the authors reported.
"Both mean age and total clinical score in all combinations of two diseases showed significantly different results," the authors said.
Specifically, the average patient age was 52.9 years for those with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, 56.1 years for those with perennial allergic conjunctivitis, 25.7 years for those with atopic keratoconjunctivitis and 16.6 years for those with vernal keratoconjunctivitis.
Additionally, the total clinical scores were 1.54 in seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, 2.13 in perennial allergic conjunctivitis, 3.72 in atopic keratoconjunctivitis and 12.68 in vernal keratoconjunctivitis, according to the study.
"Re-evaluation of [allergic ocular disease] is essential for constructing future strategies for the treatment of [allergic ocular disease]," the authors said.
The study is published online ahead of print on the Web site for Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.