Background This study aimed to elucidate the prevalence of ocular involvement among patients with active tuberculosis (TB) or nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection in a Japanese hospital.
Materials and Methods Patients with active TB or NTM infection at Yoshijima Hospital from April 2017 to July 2018 were included in this retrospective study. All patients underwent ophthalmic examinations, including fundus evaluation under pupil dilation, before initiation of antibiotic therapy. Patients with ocular inflammation were regularly followed up by ophthalmologists.
Results In total, 101 patients with active TB and 27 patients with active NTM infection underwent ophthalmic examinations during the study period. No ocular symptoms were reported. Seven patients with TB (6.9%) had ocular inflammation; four had bilateral involvement. In these seven patients, ocular inflammation comprised retinal vasculitis (n=2), anterior uveitis (n=2), choroiditis (n=2), and vitritis (n=1). Female sex was associated with higher prevalence of ocular inflammation among patients with TB. Conversely, no patients with NTM infection had ocular inflammation.
Conclusion Ocular inflammation was present in approximately 7% of patients with active TB. Although TB choroiditis is presumed to be rare in Japan, approximately 30% of the patients with ocular inflammation exhibited choroidal lesions in this study. In contrast, no ocular inflammation was observed among patients with systemic NTM infection.