A case of uveitis in adult-onset Still's disease with ophthalmologic symptoms

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare and systemic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. AOSD is characterized by high fever accompanied by a range of systemic symptoms. However, there are rare cases of AOSD with ophthalmologic symptoms as well as with an obvious causation of corticosteroid withdrawal. In this case, a 43-year-old male patient diagnosed with AOSD showed ocular inflammation after withdrawing from corticosteroid treatment. This patient was treated with prednisolone for AOSD and discharged after achieving complete remission of breathlessness, backache, thoracalgia, joint pain, and spiking fever. The patient unauthorizedly stopped taking prednisolone after he was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Department of Ophthalmology with the complaint of decreased visual acuity in both eyes for half a month and sudden vision loss in the left eye for 3 days. After regular ophthalmologic examinations and fluorescence angiography examination, he was diagnosed with acute panuveitis as the manifestation of AOSD. Uveitis was effectively treated with corticosteroid drugs. This case reported a rare manifestation of AOSD in an ophthalmological system that was associated with the withdrawal of corticosteroid treatment. This report highlighted the therapeutic effect of local and systemic corticosteroid use for AOSD manifested with uveitis. This case is interesting for both rheumatologists and ophthalmologists.