Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA)
Juvenile Dermatomyocitis (JDM)
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus/SLE)
Scleroderma/Morphea
Periodic Fever Syndromes
Vasculitis
Behcet’s
Uveitis
Childhood Uveitis
Childhood uveitis a video for young people and their families created by young people and their families.
Uvea is the middle loading of the eyeball at the front of the eye is called the iris.
Uveitis means the lluvia is inflamed.
Inflammation the blood vessels become leaky allowing cells and protein to escape. If it happens in the front part of the eye we call this anterior uveitis.
Escaped blood cells can be seen by an eye specialist through a microscope that we call a slip lamp.
Uveitis can happen in the middle of the eye, we call this Intermediate Uveitis. This is the normal year into the eye.
Intermediate Uveitis makes the view into the eye and the view out of the eye cloudy.
You can also get inflammation in the back of the eye called Posterior Uveitis and affecting all parts of the eye called Panuveitis these types can damage the nerves which help you see.
Some children grow out of uveitis but it can be hard to know who will grow out of it or when that will happen.
Any type of Uveitis can affect a vision, if Uveitis is not treated the pressure can go up inside the eye thinning out the nerve in the back of the eye this is
called Glaucoma.
The normally clear lens inside the eye can go cloudy this is called the Cataract.
There can be swelling of the tissues at the back of the eye this is called Macular Oedema.
We can treat these problems but it’s better if we prevent them.
We have different treatments we can use to try to stop problems find out more about them in our Uveitis Treatment Video find out about Uveitis Research in our other video.
Childhood uveitis treatment
Childhood Uveitis Treatment a video made by young people and their families for young people and their families.
Uveitis is Inflammation or leaky Blood Vessels inside the eye find out more in our other videos.
We treat Uveitis using something we call the Stepladder Approach.
The first step in preventing problems is steroid drops they are safe in the short term. for too long they can cause eye pressure problems or cataract affecting vision so some children and young people need to move up a step.
The next step is Disease Define Drug also called Immunosuppression Immunosuppression or Immunomodulatory Drug they reduce the body’s ability to make White Blood Cells. They are usually safe because we closely monitor children when they are on them but being on these drugs does make it easier to catch infections like coughs and colds.
Methotrexate can be taken as a weekly injection, tablets or syrup it can make some children feel sick or tired and can cause Liver problems but it has been used safely for decades.
Mycophenolate Mofetil has also been new safely in children it is given twice a day as tablets or syrup. Regular monitoring is needed and it is not safe for adults who are actively trying to have babies. There are some children whose Uveitis will not be controlled by Methotrexate or Mycophenolate.
The next step up is to use the newer Biologic Agents, which are more
targeted more powerful and are usually given every few weeks in injection they have names like Adalimumab and Infliximab. Adalimumab and Infliximab are treatments which targets a substance called Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) these medicines are given via injections or via a drip. The drugs change the lives of many children of the better but they are very powerful so it’s really important that anyone on these drugs are monitored closely.
Before we had these drugs Childhood Uveitis often led to children losing their sight.
Uveitis can cause scarring, which can cause low pressure inside the eye, loss of blood to the eye and loss of vision and pain. More information on these treatments is available through the Versus Arthritis Website.