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Revised diagnostic criteria for Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease: report of an international committee on nomenclature1,

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Abstract

PURPOSE: To present revised criteria for the diagnosis of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, a chronic, bilateral, granulomatous ocular and multisystem inflammatory condition of unknown cause.

METHODS: Diagnostic criteria and nomenclature were subjects of discussion at the First International Workshop on Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease on October 19–21, 1999, at the University of California, Los Angeles, Conference Center, Lake Arrowhead, California. A committee appointed by the workshop participants was charged with drafting revised criteria for Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, based on discussions held during the conference. This article is the consensus committee report.

RESULTS: New criteria, taking into account the multisystem nature of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, with allowance for the different ocular findings present in the early and late stages of the disease, were formulated and agreed upon by the committee. These criteria are based on additional knowledge and experience of experts in the field and are believed to reflect disease features more fully than previously published criteria.

CONCLUSIONS: The revised definition of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, with expanded diagnostic criteria, will facilitate performance of studies involving homogeneous populations of patients, at various stages of disease, that address unanswered questions regarding treatment and disease mechanisms.

Section snippets

Participants in the first international workshop on Vogt-Koyangi-Harada disease

Massimo Accorinti, MD (Rome, Italy), Lourdes Arellanes-Garcia, MD (Mexico City, Mexico), Edoardo Baglivo, MD (Geneva, Switzerland), Rubens Belfort, MD, PhD (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Kathleen L. Boldy, DVM (Los Angeles, CA), Chi-Chao Chan, MD (Bethesda, MD), Cristobal A. Couto, MD (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Emmett T. Cunningham, Jr, MD, PhD, MPH (San Francisco, CA), Janet L. Davis, MD (Miami, FL), Marc D. de Smet, MD (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Emilio M. Dodds, MD (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Kiyoko

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    This work is supported in part by Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc, New York, New York (Drs Read, Holland, and Rao); the Alabama Eye Institute, Birmingham, Alabama (Dr Read); and the American Ophthalmological Society-Herman Knapp Testimonial Fund 1999–2000 (Dr Read). Dr Holland is a recipient of a Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.

    1

    The authors constitute the International Committee on Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease Nomenclature, representing the participants of the First International Workshop on Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease. A full list of participants appears at the end of the article.

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