Are there any early signs or symptoms that can predict Birdshot’s course?
Research details
- Type of funding: Fight for Sight / Birdshot Uveitis Society Small Grant Award
- Grant Holder: Mr Mark Westcott
- Institute: Moorfields Eye Hospital
- Region: London
- Start date: January 2015
- End Date: October 2015
- Priority: Causes
- Eye Category: Ocular inflammatory
Overview
Birdshot uveitis is a long-term (chronic) condition that potentially needs lifelong treatment with steroids and medication that reduces the body’s defences against infection (immune suppression).
An odd fact about Birdshot uveitis is that its progress is very unpredictable, even with treatment. A significant minority of patients continue to lose their sight even with aggressive immune suppression therapy.
The best results come when treatment starts early, but we don’t yet have a good idea of which signs and symptoms that show up early on are the best for predicting how Birdshot will progress. So in this project Mr Westcott and co-investigators at Moorfields Eye Hospital, Ms Angela Rees and Mr Carlos Pavesio are trying to spot which clinical signs that appear early on in the condition are good predictors of poor prognosis later on. The team is looking back to compare the medical records of their large group of Birdshot patients who have attended the clinic for over 5 years.
The results will mean that patients can have better information about their condition and could also be very useful for future clinical trials.
Find out more about Birdshot Uveitis Society