Retina (Philadelphia, Pa.)
September 30, 2026 · via Europe PMC
A Multi-Institutional Study on West Nile Virus Uveitis: Treatment, Complications, and Long-Term Outcomes.
Begaj T, Tauqeer Z, Liu R, +6 more, Faia LJ.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
West Nile virus uveitis is often self-limited but can cause chronic CME and retinal vasculitis needing immunomodulatory therapy.
What was studied
Retrospective three-center series of 11 patients (2015-2023), mean follow-up 128 weeks.
Key findings
- 73% had hospitalization for encephalitis or meningitis.
- Acute findings: vitreous inflammation 40.9%, CME 27.3%, non-occlusive vasculitis 22.7%.
- 2 eyes (9.1%) developed neovascularization; 4 eyes (18.2%) needed IMT.
Clinical relevance
Highlights ocular complications after WNV.
Who should care
Limitations
Only 11 patients.
Follow WNV patients for CME and vasculitis.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Purpose
West Nile virus (WNV) can cause anterior/intermediate uveitis with characteristic multifocal chorioretinal lesions. Literature on acute manifestations is robust; however there is limited data describing the full spectrum of uveitic manifestations of WNV, treatments in the acute and chronic phase, as well as long-term sequelae.
Methods
A retrospective observational study from three academic uveitis practices. Patients diagnosed with WNV based on serologic and imaging findings were selected; data collected included demographics, ocular and systemic co-morbidities, ophthalmic examination findings, and treatment.
Results
Eleven patients were included between 2015 to 2023, with a mean follow-up of 128 weeks (∼ 2.5 years). The average patient was a 60-year-old Caucasian (64%) woman (55%); 27% of patients had diabetes. Fifty-five percent presented with 20/20-20/40 Snellen visual acuity. Importantly, 73% of patients in this cohort were hospitalized due to encephalitis or meningitis. Acute findings included anterior inflammation (8 [36.4%] eyes), vitreous inflammation (9 [40.9%] eyes), cystoid macular edema (CME) (6 [27.3%] eyes), non-occlusive retinal vasculitis (5 [22.7%]), and 1 (4.5%) eye with occlusive retinal vasculitis. Two (9.1%) eyes developed secondary peripheral retinal neovascularization requiring anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment or laser panretinal photocoagulation. Eight (36.4%) eyes were initially treated with systemic steroids, and 4 (18.2%) eyes required immunomodulatory therapy (IMT) for recurrent CME and retinal vasculitis.
Conclusion
WNV uveitis often has a self-limited course but can be intractable in some patients, with long-term control needed for CME and retinal vasculitis with systemic IMT. Ophthalmologists must be aware of the rarer complications that may require intervention.
DOI
10.1097/iae.0000000000005025
PMID
42814007
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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