Purpose: To investigate patient characteristics, disease types, clinical manifestations, and treatment status of patients with allergic conjunctival disease (ACD) who were examined by an ophthalmologist.
Subjects and methods: This study was conducted at 11 ophthalmic medical institutions across Japan at the same time over a period of 6 days for each of the four periods during May, August, and November, 2017 and February, 2018. The Japanese ACDs Quality of Life Questionnaire (Modified Version) was administered to patients who were clinically diagnosed with the type I ACD during the survey period. After obtaining consent, serum antigen-specific immunoglobulin E antibody titers were measured.
Results: Among the 18,467 patients examined by an ophthalmologist during the four periods, 785 (4.3%) had ACD. Categorizing the patients according the to the type of conjunctival disease revealed that 487 patients (56.6%) had seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC), 318 (37.0%) had perennial allergic conjunctivitis (PAC), 4 (0.5%) had atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC) with proliferative changes, 22 (2.6%) had atopic keratoconjunctivitis without proliferative changes, 14 (1.6%) had vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC), and 15 (1.7%) had giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC). The complication rates of other allergic diseases (776 patients) were 45.6% (354 patients) for allergic rhinitis, 8.9% (69 patients) for atopic dermatitis, and 6.6% (51 patients) for bronchial asthma. The positivity rates of serum antigen-specific immunoglobulin E to cedar, cypress, orchardgrass, ticks, and house dust were 59.7%, 34.2%, 28.2%, 36.6%, and 37.3%, respectively.
Conclusion: The proportion of patients with ACD among patients visiting ophthalmic medical institutions in Japan was 4.3%, of which patients with SAC acc ounted for more than 50%, and those with severe proliferative changes accounted for 3.8%.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 126: 625-635, 2022.