Departments and divisions

Historical reference

The Department of uveitis was founded by the merger of eye tuberculosis department (Head – O. Petrosyants) and tissue therapy department (Head – V. Skorodynska).

From 1966 to 1987 this department was headed by professor, DMedSc M. Shpak. Under the direction of M. Shpak, such methods were developed as etiologic diagnosis and specific desensitization, versatile for different etiological forms of uveitis. The department developed methods of etiological diagnosis of uveitis by identifying focal eye response to bacterial allergens, defined the frequency of certain etiological factors in endogenous uveitis. Also features of the clinic were studied: toxoplasmosis, strept. uveitis, for the first time revealed the role of opportunistic pathogens in the occurrence of inflammation in the vascular tract. Methods of diagnosis of uveitis using immunogenetic and immunological studies of liquid crystal thermography, radioactive isotopes. The role of autoallergens in the uveitis pathogenesis was studied and developed a method for correcting these disorders with immunosuppressants.

Since 1987 the department has been headed by DMedSc, Senior Research Scientist V. Savko. Under his leadership, employees continued to develop methods for diagnosis and treatment of endogenous uveitis, which are caused by conditionally pathogenic microorganisms. The role of uveal cataract removal and vitrectomy in preventing uveitis exacerbation has been studied and immunologically substantiated, the role of biochemical disorders in the vitreous body in uveitis has been investigated and a method of their correction has been developed.

Since December 2021, the department has been headed by DMedSc, Senior Research Scientist O. Zborovska. At the present stage, the department widely uses the latest methods of diagnosing and treating inflammatory eye diseases. Modern methods of diagnosing autoimmune diseases, tuberculosis and infectious eye lesions are actively used. The department has established active and fruitful cooperation with doctors of other specialties: rheumatologists and phthisians, dentists, otorhinolaryngologists, infectious diseases. Both the latest methods of immunosuppression and combinations of drug therapy, physiotherapeutic methods, laser methods of treatment are used in treatment. Unique diagnostic and treatment algorithms have been developed to establish the cause of the development of the inflammatory process of eyes in most patients, achieve long-term remission of the inflammatory process and preserve and increase vision in patients with uveitis.

The Division of Microsurgery of Inflammatory Pathology of the Eye and their Consequences is the leading and only uveitis center in Ukraine.

The division treats patients with inflammatory, dystrophic, inherited and vascular containment, vascular eye shells and optic nerve with the help of conservative therapy, physiotherapeutic methods, application of laser treatment methods, high-information methods of diagnosis of uveitis.

Laser Flare Meter LFP 600 has appeared in the division and employees are already working on it. This is the only apparatus in the post-Soviet countries. It allows determining objectively the presence and degree of the inflammatory process, its dynamics, even in the absence of clear clinical signs of anterior (indirectly intermediate and posterior) uveitis. This is especially true in patients with autoimmune diseases and in children. It is currently positioned as an objective alternative to SUN classification.

Highly informative methods of uveitis diagnosis have been carried out at the Division and are used in the clinical practice:

• early diagnosis of the optic nerve lesions;
• predicting the uveitis recurrence;
• etiologic diagnosis based on clinical, immunological, biochemical and serological studies;
• fluorescent angiography;
• optical coherent tomography;
• objective methods of investigation of inflammation level (laser photometry, contact thermography).

Highly effective etiopathological methods for uveitis treatment have been developed and implemented:

• etiologic chemotherapy;
• specific hyposensitization;
• immunocorrective therapy;
• neuroprotective therapy;
• a combination (or separate use) of low- and high-energy (laser coagulation) laser irradiation of the retina when posterior uveitis;
• antimicrobial photodynamic therapy for inflammatory diseases of the retina, choroid and optic nerve;
• physical therapy;
• immunosuppressive highly active therapy.

Scientific research work focuses on:

• detecting the relation between the degree of pathochemical changes and functional state of the retina in diabetic patients;
• studying the proteolysis process in pathogenesis of age-related macular dystrophy;
• investigating clinical forms of eye tuberculosis against the background of general tuberculosis lesions with comorbidities;
• studying the effect of natural biologically active substances on the processes of detoxication in cataractogenesis and uveitis
• studying the pathogenesis and new treatments for uveitis of various etiology;
• studying change in eye surface temperature in different types of inflammation.

If necessary, immunocorrecting therapy is provided. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is used when inflammatory diseases of the retina and vascular membrane of the eye.

Microsurgical intravitreal drugs injection and drug injection into the subtenon space are also widely used.

All methods, used in the division, of early diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory eye diseases enable to achieve the stabilization of the process and to improve visual functions in 80-85% patients as well as to prevent the development of uveitis recurrence in 65-70% patients.