1. Long-term Efficacy of Interferon in Severe Uveitis Associated with Behçet Disease.
- Author
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Diwo, Eléonore, Gueudry, Julie, Saadoun, David, Weschler, Bertrand, LeHoang, Phuc, and Bodaghi, Bahram
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BEHCET'S disease , *UVEAL diseases , *UVEITIS , *EYE inflammation , *INTERFERONS , *EYE diseases , *IMMUNOLOGICAL adjuvants , *THERAPEUTIC use of proteins , *RECOMBINANT proteins , *LONGITUDINAL method , *POSTERIOR uveitis , *VISUAL acuity , *DISEASE relapse , *TREATMENT effectiveness , *RETROSPECTIVE studies , *DIAGNOSIS , *THERAPEUTICS - Abstract
Purpose: To retrospectively assess the frequency of ocular relapse and the possibility of long-term remission in patients treated with interferon (IFN) for severe uveitis associated with Behçet disease.Methods: All patients were treated with an initial dosage of 3 million IU IFN three times a week. The main outcome measure was the number of relapses per person per year before, during, and after IFN treatment.Results: Of 36 patients (67 eyes), 31 (86.1%) responded to IFN. The mean follow-up was 8.19 years. Twenty-one out of 36 patients discontinued IFN and 76% of these have not relapsed within 5.05 years after discontinuation. The mean relapse per person per year decreased significantly from 1.39 to 0.0496 (p = 1.82×10-10) during the treatment period and remained at 0.057 relapses per person per year after IFN discontinuation.Conclusion: IFN efficiently decreases the relapse rate and seems to permit long-term remission even after discontinuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2017
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