Demographic Characteristics, Clinical Presentations, and Risk Factors Impacting Visual Outcomes in Peripheral Ulcerative Keratitis.

Purpose: To assess the demographic characteristics, ophthalmic and systemic presentations, and risk factors impacting the outcomes in patients diagnosed with peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK).

Methods: This retrospective study includes patients diagnosed with PUK at a tertiary care center over 13 years. A descriptive analysis of the demographics, clinical history, and presentation was performed. A reverse risk analysis was performed to assess the PUK resolution in patients with underlying autoimmune and non-autoimmune etiologies. Finally, we evaluated the correlation between treatment duration and final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and continuous and categorical variables.

Results: A total of 58 eyes of 51 patients with a mean age of 59.67 ± 13.41 years diagnosed with PUK were included in the study; 58.82% were female. The resolution duration was significantly shorter in patients with autoimmune etiologies (vs. non-autoimmune etiologies, P = 0.028) and female patients (vs. male patients, P = 0.008). The BCVA worsened in patients with non-autoimmune etiologies after treatment ( P = 0.17). Despite worse BCVA at presentation in patients with underlying autoimmune etiologies, significantly better final vision outcomes were observed ( P = 0.04). Linear regression analysis showed that longer treatment duration ( P = 0.001; R 2 = 0.1704) and worse vision ( P = 0.002; R 2 = 0.1502) at presentation were the primary risk factors of poor vision outcomes. Similarly, the treatment duration was significantly longer in male compared with female patients ( P < 0.001; R 2 = 0.2027).

Conclusions: The clinical outcomes in PUK with underlying autoimmune disorders were observed to be better than non-autoimmune etiologies, which may be attributed to the early detection of the PUK-related changes and aggressive medical management. A delayed diagnosis of PUK leads to poor vision outcomes.