포도막염은 강직성척추염의 가장 흔한 관절외 증세이다. TNF 차단제는 강직성척추염의 척추 및 관절 증세에는 큰 효과가 있는 것은 널리 알려져 있지만 포도막염에 대한 효과는 상반된 의견이 있어왔다. 저자들은 포도막염의 병력이 없었던 총 16명의 강직성척추염 환자에서 etanercept로 치료를 시작한 이후에 새로 포도막염이 발병한 예를 경험하였기에 문헌고찰과 함께 보고하는 바이다.

Uveitis is the most common extra-articular manifestation of ankylosing spondylitis, and this occurs in 30∼50% of the patients with ankylosing spondylitis. The main symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis are usually highly responsive to TNF inhibitors, but the effects of TNF inhibitors on uveitis are inconsistent. We report here on sixteen cases of new onset uveitis during etanercept therapy in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and they had no histories of uveitis. The symptoms of ankylosing spondyltiis, other than the uveitis, were well controlled during etanercept therapy. Six patients had histories of infliximab therapy before undergoing etanercept therapy, and uveitis did not develop during this infliximab therapy. Uveitis can develop during the course of ankylosing spondylitis, yet there is a possibility of a temporal relationship between etanercept therapy and uveitis.