Post by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust

New research from UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) and the The University of Manchester explores a genetic test that could help prevent blindness in children with arthritis. 💡 The breakthrough comes as a result of research from the CLUSTER Consortium, a UK-wide group of researchers led by Professor Lucy Wedderburn from UCL GOS ICH and Professor Kimme Hyrich from the University of Manchester. The team have identified genetic changes in young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who are also experiencing eye inflammation known as uveitis. Uveitis can often begin with no symptoms and if left untreated can cause serious complications leading to loss of vision. JIA affects 10,000 children in the UK and up to 30% are at risk of developing uveitis. Professor Lucy Wedderburn explains why this finding is so important: “This new discovery has the potential to enable clinicians to screen for genetic changes when a young person is first diagnosed with JIA. This would change how we might treat uveitis, such as giving medicine at an earlier stage. This could mean those who develop uveitis are treated quickly, before the disease can irreversibly damage the eye.” Read the full article to find out more about this important study 👇