Interobserver Reliability and Sensitivity to Change of a Composite Ocular Inflammatory Activity Index: UVEDAI©.

INTRODUCTION: This was a multicenter, prospective, longitudinal, observational study involving eight Spanish tertiary hospitals to determine the interobserver reliability of an uveitis disease activity index, (UVEDAI) and assess its sensitivity to change in patients with receiving pharmacologic treatment. METHODS: Patients aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with active noninfectious uveitis were included. A complete baseline assessment was performed by two ophthalmologists who determined ocular inflammatory activity using the UVEDAI index independently of each other. The principal ophthalmologist made a new visit at 4 weeks to determine the change in inflammatory activity. The interobserver reliability analysis was performed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), with the values of the variables and the UVEDAI obtained by both ophthalmologists in the more active eye at the baseline visit. Sensitivity to change in the UVEDAI index was assessed at 4 weeks from the start of pharmacologic treatment by determining the clinically relevant change, defined as a change in UVEDAI of ≥ 0.8 points over baseline. The mean change between both measures was compared using the repeated-measures t-test. RESULTS: A total of 111 patients were included. In the interobserver reliability analysis, the ICC for the UVEDAI value was 0.9, and, when compared with the mean UVEDAI values obtained by the ophthalmologists, no statistically significant differences were found (p value > 0.05). As for the sensitivity to change in UVEDAI, statistically significant differences (p value = 0.00) were found for the mean values of the index compared with baseline. In all cases, the index value decreased by > 1 point at the 4-week visit. CONCLUSIONS: The interobserver reliability of the UVEDAI was high in the total sample. Furthermore, the index was sensitive in determining the change in inflammatory activity after treatment. We believe that UVEDAI is a disease activity index that enables objective comparison of results in clinical practice and trials.

Validation of UVEDAI: An Index for Evaluating the Level of Inflammatory Activity in Uveitis.

INTRODUCTION: Uveitis is the inflammation of the middle layer of the eye, the uvea, and is a major cause of blindness. None of the instruments used in clinical practice are, in themselves, sufficient to evaluate the course of uveitis. Therefore, it is necessary to develop instruments enabling standardized measurement of inflammatory activity. We developed a composite disease activity index for patients with uveitis known as UVEDAI, which considers the overall activity of the eye. The objective of this study was to validate the composite index of ocular inflammation, UVEDAI. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study involving eight Spanish tertiary hospitals. Sixty-two patients aged ≥ 18 years with acute uveitis were recruited. Participants gave informed consent before participating in the study. A full ophthalmological examination was performed by two ophthalmologists to determine inflammatory activity: one used the UVEDAI score and the other used clinical judgment. The ophthalmologists did not share their findings with each other to avoid introducing bias into the analysis. Construct validity was established by means of factor analysis. The criterion validity of the index was determined using an ordinal multivariate regression model, in which the dependent variable was the degree of uveal inflammation (mild, moderate, or high/severe). Cut-off points were determined for the UVEDAI and for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients were included. Total variance with the three components accounted for 80.32% of the construct validity. Each of the three components identified one type of eye involvement. The discriminatory capacity of UVEDAI was 0.867 (95% CI 0.778; 0.955 p < 0.001) for mild versus moderate-high and 0.946 (95% CI 0.879; 1.000 p < 0.001) for high versus mild-moderate. CONCLUSIONS: The variables included in UVEDAI enable ocular inflammatory activity to be described with a high degree of accuracy. The index may be used to evaluate and classify this activity with considerable discriminatory power.

The influence of posterior capsular opacification removal on anterior segment birefringence parameters as measured by scanning laser polarimetry.

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of posterior capsular opacification (PCO) removal on anterior segment birefringence (ASB) and its influence on peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) retardation measurements obtained by means of scanning laser polarimetry. METHODS: In this prospective interventional study, scanning laser polarimetry was performed using GDx variable corneal compensation on 26 eyes of 26 patients who developed clinically significant PCO (after uncomplicated cataract surgery and with no other ocular pathology) both before and between 1 and 4 weeks after Nd:YAG capsulotomy. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, corneal polarization axis (CPA), corneal polarization magnitude (CPM) were compared using the Student t-test and Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Spearman correlations between changes (differences between values after and before capsulotomy) in the CPA, CPM, BCVA and RNFL data were also performed. RESULTS: PCO removal is associated with a shift in CPA (from 10.86 to 15.03 degrees, P = 0.004) and CPM (from 28.54 to 37.92 nm, P = 0.004). Significant correlations were found between changes in the parameters of ASB and BCVA. Furthermore, RNFL measurements (nerve fibre indicator, temporal-superior-nasal-inferior-temporal average and superior average) were also well related to the CPA and CPM shifts. CONCLUSIONS: PCO induces an inaccurate compensation of ASB which affects RNFL assessment. Thus, it is necessary to recompensate ASB after posterior capsulotomy.