Statin use and ocular inflammatory disease risk

Ninety-two incident cases of OID were identified. A trend toward a reduction in the risk of new OID development was found in patients that used statins compared to those that did not (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.23, p = 0.13). The longer the duration of statin use, the greater is the effect.Use of oral statins may be associated with a reduced risk for the development of OID. This reduced risk increases with increasing duration of use. Larger clinical studies would be required to definitively establish the effectiveness of statins in lowering the incidence of OID.Uveitis refers to inflammation of the uveal tract. Uveitis is a frequent cause of ocular complications with subsequent visual impairment [1]. Two studies of patient populations in the west coast of the USA have estimated that the incidence of uveitis ranges from 25.6 to 52 cases per 100,000 person-years and the prevalence ranges from 69 to 115 cases per 100,00 persons [2,3]. Interestingly, the lower estimate of incidence and prevalence above are obtained from a study of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients in the Pacific Northwest, pertinent to the current study's patient population. As uveitis accounts for up to 10% of blindness in the USA and up to 15% worldwide [4], it is a disproportionate cause of visual disability in light of its frequency. Scleritis is inflammation of the sclera, and similar to uveitis, it is primarily due to autoimmune disease [5-8]. Collectively, uveitis and scleritis may be referred to as ocular inflammatory diseases (OID). Treatment for autoimmune OID consists of suppression of inflammation with corticosteroids or immunomodulatory/steroid-sparing medications. Antimetabolite medications are the most commonly used after corticosteroids [9] and are effective in up to approximately two-thirds of patients [10-12]. Alkylating agents are more effective, but may carry with them greater risks as well [9,13]. Newer agents such as biologic response modifiers hold great promise for the treatment of O