Assessment of Ocular Toxicity Potential: Basic Theory and Techniques

To begin a process of standardizing the methods for reporting clinical data in the field of uveitis. Consensus workshop. Members of an international working group were surveyed about diagnostic terminology, inflammation grading schema, and outcome measures, and the results used to develop a series of proposals to better standardize the use of these entities. Small groups employed nominal group techniques to achieve consensus on several of these issues. The group affirmed that an anatomic classification of uveitis should be used as a framework for subsequent work on diagnostic criteria for specific uveitic syndromes, and that the classification of uveitis entities should be on the basis of the location of the inflammation and not on the presence of structural complications. Issues regarding the use of the terms "intermediate uveitis," "pars planitis," "panuveitis," and descriptors of the onset and course of the uveitis were addressed. The following were adopted: standardized grading schema for anterior chamber cells, anterior chamber flare, and for vitreous haze; standardized methods of recording structural complications of uveitis; standardized definitions of outcomes, including "inactive" inflammation, "improvement'; and "worsening" of the inflammation, and "corticosteroid sparing," and standardized guidelines for reporting visual acuity outcomes. A process of standardizing the approach to reporting clinical data in uveitis research has begun, and several terms have been standardized.

Standardization of observations is recognized as fundamental to clinical research. The methodology for the evaluation of anterior segment inflammatory disease has become well accepted, while the ocular inflammatory standardization of the posterior segment has not been so well described or accepted. A system for the evaluation of vitreal inflammatory activity in patients with intermediate and posterior uveitis is presented. A series of photographs representing various degrees of fundus vitreal haze is depicted. The observer examines the eye with an indirect ophthalmoscope, then chooses the photograph which most closely simulates what is being seen. This technique is rapid and its reproducibility is helpful in standardizing clinical observations.

In this overview the current status of the role of veterinary ophthalmology in laboratory animal studies is discussed. Attention is devoted to current regulatory requirements and study construction, examination techniques commonly used in studies, and a consideration of species characteristics that may be important to investigators. Methods for recording data are discussed with examples of recording systems.