Assessment of refraction anomalies in juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) on a long-term follow-up basis.
Sixty-five adults, 52 females and 13 males, with a history of active JCA had a complete ophthalmic evaluation including subjective refractioning on average 26.4 years after JCA onset. The age range was 22-49 years.
The refraction ranged from -8.12 D to +6.5 D with a mean (SD) of -0.64 (2.16) D. The mean refraction in the JCA group was significantly more towards myopia than that of a coeval adult hospital-based sample used as controls (p = 0.008). Twenty-eight out of the 65 (43%) had a negative refractive value of at least 0.37 D. Myopia onset age ranged from 8 to 31 years. In those able to specify their myopia onset by first purchase of spectacles (n = 25) the JCA onset had preceded the myopia, with a mean (SD) interval of 10.1 (5.4) years.
The elevated myopia figure of 43% among JCA patients suggests an association between myopia and JCA. In lack of more precise indicators and in accordance with older literature, an explanation might be a weakening effect of chronic inflammation on scleral connective tissue.