Uveitis and autoimmune hepatitis, a real entity? A case report with review of the literature

A 63-year-old man presented with a 10-day history of severe pain, redness of the right eye, and reduced vision in both eyes. In addition, he had been diagnosed incidentally with liver cirrhosis and splenomegaly 1 week before he was admitted to our center. The patient was found to have severe intraocular inflammation that initially involved the right eye and then progressed to bilateral panuveitis. The presenting visual acuity was 20/60 for the left eye and lumbar puncture (LP) for the right eye. Vitreous tap revealed a nonturbid, yellow fluid that was negative for organism culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and tumor markers. Oral prednisolone significantly improved the clinical status of both ocular and hepatic inflammation. During the admission period, the patient developed several medical comorbid complications that temporarily altered the management of our case. After a full evaluation of uveitis causes, the patient was diagnosed with biopsy-proven autoimmune hepatitis. In addition to a high-dose oral steroid, azathioprine was given for 3 months before the patient developed decompensated liver failure, which was successfully managed with a liver transplant. The patient was stable for 1 year following the transplant but eventually developed blindness of the right eye and visual acuity of 20/30 in the left eye.