To study the association between the occurrence of peripheral arthritis and of acute anterior uveitis during the course of ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
Retrospective clinical follow up by both chart review and direct patient interview was performed on 271 individuals comprised of 222 local white and 49 Taiwanese individuals with AS.
Of 89 white patients with acute anterior uveitis, 36 (40.4%) also had peripheral arthritis, compared with only 33 (24.8%) having peripheral arthritis among the 133 who did not have acute anterior uveitis (p < 0.02). Thirty seven (78.7%) of 49 Taiwanese individuals with AS had peripheral arthritis and these included all 10 patients with acute anterior uveitis from the entire disease cohort (p < 0.05).
This cross-sectional survey of AS patients supports the view that patients who develop peripheral arthritis are also more likely to develop acute anterior uveitis.