Epidemiology and Clinical Characteristics of Ocular Tuberculosis in the United States, 1993-2019.

Background

Data regarding ocular tuberculosis (OTB) in the United States have not been previously reported. We evaluated trends of OTB compared with other extrapulmonary TB (EPTB).

Methods

We estimated the proportion of all EPTB cases (with or without concurrent pulmonary involvement) with OTB reported to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System during 1993-2019. We compared demographics and clinical characteristics of people with OTB and other EPTB during 2010-2019.

Results

During 1993-2019, 1766 OTB cases were reported, representing 1.6% of 109 834 all EPTB cases: 200 (0.5% of 37 167) during 1993-1999, 395 (1.0% of 41 715) during 2000-2009, and 1171 (3.8% of 30 952) during 2010-2019. In contrast to persons with other EPTB, persons with OTB were older (median, 48 vs 44 years;

Conclusions

Reported OTB increased during 1993-2019 despite decreasing TB, including EPTB; the largest increase occurred during 2010-2019. OTB was rarely laboratory confirmed and was primarily diagnosed in conjunction with IGRA results. More research is needed to understand the epidemiology of OTB to inform clinical and diagnostic practices.

Informations de copyright

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2024.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Potential conflicts of interest. The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to the content of this manuscript.