Feline uveitis. An 'intraocular lymphadenopathy'.

Feline uveitis can be a subtle, insidious, painful, vision-threatening disease with causes that can sometimes be fatal. It is essential that clinicians remain alert to its various clinical presentations, thoroughly diagnose cases once detected, and treat the primary cause whenever possible. In the majority of patients, a cause is not found and aggressive immunomodulating therapy of may become a chronic or recurrent immune-mediated disease must be instigated. As with immune-mediated diseases elsewhere, this involves local or systemic immunosuppression with slow tapering and frequent monitoring. The aim of this review is to aid diagnosis and therapy of uveitis by likening it to inflammation elsewhere (because it is more similar than it is different) while highlighting differences (because these are helpful). Feline uveitis is similar in its presentation throughout the world. Although the list of infectious causes may vary in composition or order of likelihood, idiopathic, immune-mediated and neoplastic causes of feline uveitis are universal. Patients of either gender and all ages and breeds are affected by uveitis. Despite the fact that feline uveitis is a serious and common disorder, the peer-reviewed literature regarding this disease is somewhat limited. Approximately half the publications are review articles, case reports or case series. The majority of prospective and retrospective research describes epidemiologic surveys of antibodies, antigens and organism DNA in serum and aqueous humor.