Introduction: Ocular Tuberculosis (OTB) is a rare and often misdiagnosed form of tuberculosis (TB) that can lead to vision loss. Due to its singularity, the diagnosis of OTB remains challenging and is usually presumptive.

Aims and Objectives: To characterize the patients with OTB in Lisbon?s greater area.

Methods: Retrospective study of patients with OTB referred to Lisbon?s Tuberculosis Centre between 2015-2022. Data was collected from clinical records and national tuberculosis registry forms. A statistical analysis was performed using SPSS IBM®. 

Results: From a total of 2380 patients with Active Tuberculosis (ATB), 3,7% (n=87) had OTB (possible diagnosis). Age distribution was not significantly different between total ATB and OTB groups. Over a half of OTB patients were female (54%) and 63,2% were portuguese. The mean age was significantly higher in the portuguese group (59,55 vs. 44,31 years; p<0,001). The most frequent disease presentation was anterior uveitis (34,5%), followed by vasculitis or Eales disease (18,4%) and panuveitis (14,9%). None of the patients was HIV positive, 12,6% had diabetes, 3,4% autoimmune diseases. Of all OTB patients, 19,5% reported prior exposure to TB and 11,5% had previously undergone anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT). OTB patients underwent ATT for an average of 8,1 months. Clinical improvement was verified in 90,5% of treated patients. Of the total OTB patients, 6,9% abandoned treatment and 4,6% relapsed with OTB.

Conclusions: The majority of OTB patients were portuguese-born. Most of treated patients experienced clinical improvement, with only a minority presenting with relapsing disease. The study highlights the need to increase awareness of this condition to improve outcomes for OTB.