A Retrospective Analysis of Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis with Ocular Manifestations

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To analyze the treatment and prognosis of patients from our tertiary medical center with ocular and orbital involvement of granulomatosis with polyangiitis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the medical records of patients diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis that visited our single tertiary referral center from July 2008 to September 2014 was performed. RESULTS: A total of 51 patients diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis visited our center, and 21 of those patients had received an ophthalmologic examination. Of these, 9 patients (4 males, 5 females) had symptoms of the eye and orbit, and the clinical presentations were as follows: episcleritis, scleritis, marginal keratitis, orbital inflammation, orbital abscess, retinal vasculitis, and nasolacrimal duct obstruction. The patients each received treatments according to clinical presentation with topical, oral, or intravenous steroids or immunomodulatory agents such as cyclophosphamide. Nasolacrimal duct obstruction was treated with surgery in some cases. After an average follow-up period of 58 ± 30 months, all patients showed clinical improvement of their ocular and orbital involvement of granulomatosis with polyangiitis. CONCLUSIONS: Granulomatosis with polyangiitis is a relatively rare disease that sometimes has ocular or orbital involvement and can lead to blindness. Therefore, when ocular symptoms and signs present without a definitive cause, granulomatosis with polyangiitis must be ruled out, and appropriate treatment is needed. However, there are few published reports on the clinical presentation and prognosis of ocular and orbital involvement of granulomatosis with polyangiitis in Asians. This study showed that the incidence of ocular and orbital involvement in granulomatosis with polyangiitis was lower than previous reports.