Uveitis and ocular inflammation describes a complex collection of conditions that account for almost 15 % of total blindness and 20% of legal blindness in the industrialised world, and much more in the third world.
In addition to direct visual impairment, the impact of this condition is compounded by two factors
- Association with significant systemic disease
- Accompanied by significant drug related morbidity.
There are very few Ocular immunologist in the world who are trained and have specialist expertise to treat these complex conditions needing multidisciplinary care. Such specialist, integrated care is almost non-existent in some of developing countries.
As a result I do a lot of face-to-face as well as remote consultations for uveitis patients from European countries, Middle East as well as African countries, the Indian subcontinent and Latin America.
As most of the conditions need long-term immune suppression treatments along with regular monitoring of both the disease and drugs, this is done in liaison with the local ophthalmologist as well as the local physician. Access to advanced and recent immune therapies including biologics, is ensured and much easier. The development of collaboration platforms including ZOOM, MS Teams and Google MEET and the ability to share images of the eye at a press of a button, have further helped this process and made video consultations the way forward. Remote Patients needing this specialist care can now be treated safely and effectively.