Equine recurrent uveitis: the European viewpoint.

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) has always been and still is an important disease with a significant impact on the horse industry in Europe, with a prevalence of 8-10%. The need to understand and manage the disease has spurred the development of veterinary ophthalmology in general, although the aetiology of the disease remains the subject of intense discussion. It is most probably an autoimmune disease triggered, at least in Europe, in the majority of cases by Leptospira spp. The therapy of ERU has evolved over the centuries from various methods of bloodletting to rational medical therapy using mydriatics and steroidal and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, to surgical therapies, such as vitrectomy or implantation of cyclosporin-releasing devices. In Europe, pars plana vitrectomy in horses testing positive for Leptospira spp. appears to be the most successful form of therapy at the present time.