At present, we can decide treatments based on experiences from large groups of patients with similar conditions.  However, the conclusions we make about the diseases and the treatments from studying the group as a whole do not always precisely apply to individual patients within the group; there is considerable variability in how individual patients will respond to treatment. Now, with new knowledge and technologies,  we are beginning to aim for personalized approaches to therapy so that we can select therapies based on the individual’s genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors.  We think this personalized approach will result in more uniform and effective responses to therapy.  In general, older data suggests that about 1/3 of patients with uveitis associated with juvenile arthritis will have mild or no active disease long term, 1/3 may continue to have mild to moderate disease, and 1/3 will have substantial long term visual impairment.  However, more recently, earlier diagnosis, more rigorous follow-up and monitoring of patients, and dramatically improved treatments, makes us believe that the long term outcomes will significantly improve.

The new treatments that are available to treat uveitis (and arthritis) have transformed care and outcomes. The new treatments are referred to as biologic drugs because they are designed to target the precise molecules that participate in inflammation. At the present time these biologic drugs target molecules in the body that usually participate in inflammation.  However, with more research we hope to be able to identify exactly what molecule or molecules participate in inflammation in the individual patient so that the exact correct choice of the biologic drug can be selected for that patient.  Also, with more research we hope to be able to know better when the biologic drug should be started and when the medication can be safely stopped without causing the disease to recur.  Of course, we are continuing to investigate what factors might be involved in causing uveitis to occur in the first place so that we can consider ways to prevent uveitis from occurring.