Influence of early cerebrospinal fluid-guided diagnosis and early high-dose corticosteroid therapy on ocular outcomes of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the importance of early cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-guided diagnosis and early high-dose corticosteroid therapy on the complications and visual prognosis of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Charts from patients with VKH disease who had been seen at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital and Miyata Eye Hospital between 1994 and 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were classified into two groups. The first group (group A) consisted of patients who had received a full work-up including CSF examination and corticosteroid pulse therapy at the acute ophthalmic stage of disease. The second group (group B) consisted of patients who were referred to us by local ophthalmologists long after the disease onset, had not had a CSF examination and had been treated with low-dose systemic corticosteroids or topical corticosteroid therapy. The ocular complications, systemic complications and visual prognosis were compared between the two groups.
RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were included in group A and ten patients in group B. The initial diagnosis at the acute ophthalmic stage had been VKH disease in all patients of group A, while, in group B, the diagnosis was idiopathic uveitis in six patients (60%) initially. Frequency of recurrent uveitis and integumentary symptoms were significantly lower in group A. Intensity of sunset glow fundus was significantly more severe in group B. All eyes in group A obtained a final visual acuity of 0.8 or better, whereas 11 eyes (55%) in group B were below this level.
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that early diagnosis, helped by CSF examination and early high-dose corticosteroid therapy, decreased the complication rate and improved the visual prognosis.