Birnbaum AD, Tessler HH, Schultz KL et al.
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Am J Ophthalmol 2007;144:424–8.
Editor’s note: This is an interesting study that provides strong circumstantial evidence for a connection between Fuch’s heterochromic iridocyclitis (FHI) and rubella. In 1969, a program of vaccination against rubella was initiated in the US. The present study shows that the percentages of patients presenting at the University of Illinois (Chicago, IL, USA) with FHI and idiopathic chronic granulomatous iridocyclitis between 1919 and 1958 were similar, with variability in idiopathic chronic iridocyclitis. Among those born between 1959 and 1968, there was a sharp reduction in the number of patients seen with FHI (a 65% decrease). This dropped further for those born between 1969 and 1978 and finally in 1979–1988 there was only one patient born who developed FHI. In contrast, idiopathic chronic iridocyclitis and idiopathic chronic granulomatous iridocyclitis showed no difference in terms of the percentage of overall patients with uveitis who presented with these conditions. In addition, foreign-born patients with FHI increased during the same time period, from 25% to 55% of all FHI patients.