Clinical Characteristics of a Large Cohort of Patients with Scleritis and Episcleritis

Objective To evaluate the demographic characteristics, clinical features, ocular complications, and disease associations of patients with scleritis and episcleritis; as well as to delineate the risk factors for decreased vision in patients with scleritis. Design Retrospective case series. Participants Five hundred patients with scleritis and 85 patients with episcleritis. Methods The electronic health records of 500 patients with scleritis and 85 patients with episcleritis seen at 2 tertiary referral centers were reviewed and their clinical features were studied. Main Outcome Measures Clinical features (pain, scleral inflammation), ocular complications (decrease in vision, anterior uveitis, peripheral ulcerative keratitis, ocular hypertension), and disease associations. Results In a series of 585 patients, 500 patients had scleritis (85.5%) and 85 patients had episcleritis (14.2%). Ocular complications were more frequent overall in patients with scleritis versus in those with episcleritis (45.0% vs. 19.0%), including decrease in vision (15.8% vs. 2.3%), anterior uveitis (26.4% vs. 16.5%), peripheral ulcerative keratitis (7.4% vs. 0%), and ocular hypertension (14.2% vs. 3.5%; P