Multicenter study of infliximab for refractory uveoretinitis in Behçet disease

Abstract

Objective: To describe the effects of infliximab on refractory uveoretinitis in patients with Behçet disease during the first year of treatment.

Methods: Data were collected prospectively at 8 tertiary uveitis centers. Safety was analyzed in 63 patients. Efficacy was analyzed in 50 patients, after exclusion of those who had received infliximab for various reasons before the study.

Results: Eighty-nine percent (56 of 63) of the patients were male, with 70% (44 of 63) of the patients aged 25 to 44 years. The safety analysis demonstrated that 34 episodes of adverse effects occurred in 46% (29 of 63) of patients during 1 year, including 3 episodes of infusion reactions. No adverse effects were deemed serious. The efficacy analysis at 1 year showed that uveoretinitis had improved in 69% (33 of 48), had improved somewhat in 23% (11 of 48), was unchanged in 8% (4 of 48), and had worsened in no patients. The mean number of ocular attacks per 6-month period decreased from 2.66 at baseline to 0.44 during months 1 through 6 of infliximab therapy and to 0.79 during months 7 through 12. Forty-four percent (21 of 48) of patients had no ocular attacks during the 1-year period. Efficacy was best for patients with uveoretinitis duration of less than 5 years. The mean best-corrected visual acuity improved logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution from 0.736 at the first infliximab infusion to 0.616 at the end of 1 year (P = .01).

Conclusions: Infliximab treatment for Behçet disease uveoretinitis was well tolerated, with nonserious adverse effects occurring in about half of the patients. At the end of 1 year, uveoretinitis had improved or improved somewhat in 92% (44 of 48) of patients, accompanied by improvement in the mean visual acuity.