Dr. Foster, our 8 yr old daughter has been diagnosed with iritis in both eyes, possibly due to JRA w/out joint involvement. She was first diagnosed in Sept. 2006 and has been on Pred Forte drops, but the inflammation does not seem to be improving. Here's her history:
Sept. 2006 - complaint of headache and blurry vision, ophthalmologist found retinal serous macular detachment, and iritis.Tx: prednisone 20mg q am, and pred forte qid.
Oct.2006 - retinal problem resolved and prednisone was tapered, iritis is left eye seemed to improve.
Nov2006-Jan2007 - slowly tapered eye drops with improvement of iritis
Feb2007 - off eye drops for 6 wks, but iritis flared up in both eyes (measured 3 or 4) so pred forte qid was started again
March2007 - tapered to tid dosing
April2007 - left eye about the same, right eye worsened, so increased right eye to qid dosing
We want to make sure we are doing everything to help her, and we are willing to travel anywhere, anytime to see a specialist or to see you for the best treatment possible. She is currently under the care of Dr. Eustis, a ped ophthalmologist at Ochsner in New Orleans, La. Should she be on some type of oral tx such as MTX, and how long is too long on steroid drops? We feel that so much more could be done to help our daughter ( maybe more tests, some other treatment options, etc.) but locally our resources are so limited. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you for your help, Janice Wolff
Sept. 2006 - complaint of headache and blurry vision, ophthalmologist found retinal serous macular detachment, and iritis.Tx: prednisone 20mg q am, and pred forte qid.
Oct.2006 - retinal problem resolved and prednisone was tapered, iritis is left eye seemed to improve.
Nov2006-Jan2007 - slowly tapered eye drops with improvement of iritis
Feb2007 - off eye drops for 6 wks, but iritis flared up in both eyes (measured 3 or 4) so pred forte qid was started again
March2007 - tapered to tid dosing
April2007 - left eye about the same, right eye worsened, so increased right eye to qid dosing
We want to make sure we are doing everything to help her, and we are willing to travel anywhere, anytime to see a specialist or to see you for the best treatment possible. She is currently under the care of Dr. Eustis, a ped ophthalmologist at Ochsner in New Orleans, La. Should she be on some type of oral tx such as MTX, and how long is too long on steroid drops? We feel that so much more could be done to help our daughter ( maybe more tests, some other treatment options, etc.) but locally our resources are so limited. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you for your help, Janice Wolff
