The study was done to evaluate the diagnostic worth of elevated serum ACE (sACE) and lymphopenia, singly or combined, in diagnosing sarcoid uveitis.
868 cases were reviewed. The mean age at uveitis onset was 49.4 (±18.6) years. Of them, 144 patients had a diagnosis of sarcoid uveitis. An elevated sACE had SE of 45.8%, Sp of 88.8%, PPV of 44.9% and NPV of 89.2% in diagnosing sarcoid uveitis. For lymphopenia, SE was 15.3%, Sp was 96.7%, PPV was 47.8% and NPV was 85.2%. For the combination of elevated sACE and lymphopenia, SE was 18.9%, Sp was 99.0%, PPV was 73.9% and NPV was 89.5%. The value of this combination varied according to patient age at diagnosis plus anatomo clinical entities: for patients aged ≤50 years, SE was 31.3%, Sp was 99.7%, PPV was 90.9% and NPV was 94.3%. For granulomatous uveitis, SE was 26.2%, Sp was 97.3%, PPV was 73.3% and NPV was 82.5%.
The study concluded that the combination of elevated serum ACE and lymphopenia more convincingly suggests sarcoid uveitis than these investigational tests used alone, especially in patients with granulomatous uveitis, while a lack of these markers corresponds to a high NPV.
Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/10/bjophthalmol-2020-316563
