Photo Credit: iStock.com/LightFieldStudios

The following is a summary of “Incidence and Prevalence of Syphilitic Uveitis and Associated Ocular Complications in the TriNetX Database,” published in the June 2025 issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology by Zhou et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine the yearly and cumulative incidences and prevalences of infectious disease syphilitic uveitis, concurrent sexually transmitted infections, and ocular complications using the United States (US) TriNetX database.  

They identified subjects with syphilitic uveitis from 2013 to 2024 using International Classification for Disease (ICD) codes for uveitis combined with positive treponemal and non-treponemal syphilis tests within 1 month of diagnosis. Incidence and prevalence rates were calculated for the same period. Demographic data, concurrent infection with other sexually transmitted infections (STI- HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia), and ocular complications (macular edema and low vision) were also collected. The primary outcomes included annual and cumulative incidence and prevalence of syphilitic uveitis, while secondary outcomes focused on the incidence and prevalence of concurrent infections and ocular complications.  

The results showed that among 81,759,791 individuals in TriNetX, 161,317 syphilis cases and 237 syphilitic uveitis cases were identified. Of those with syphilitic uveitis, 53.58% (N=127, 95% CI 47.2-59.9%) were White, and 75.10% (N=178, 95% CI 69.6-80.6%) were male, with a mean age of 52 years (range 20-90, SD=15), HIV was the most frequent co-infection at 32.49% (N=77, 95% CI 26.53-38.45%). Low vision and blindness were the most common ocular complications, affecting 27.85% (N=66, 95% CI 22.16-33.54%), predominantly in patients with panuveitis or posterior uveitis (78.79%, N=52). The cumulative incidence and prevalence of syphilitic uveitis from 2013 to 2024 were 0.36 and 0.27 cases per 1,00,000, respectively.  

Investigators concluded that the increasing incidence and prevalence of syphilitic uveitis reflected the broader syphilis epidemic and emphasized the importance of timely treponemal and non-treponemal testing in patients with uveitis to prevent permanent vision loss. 

Source: ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(25)00284-3/abstract