1. Long-term Efficacy of Interferon in Severe Uveitis Associated with Behçet Disease.
- Author
-
Diwo, Eléonore, Gueudry, Julie, Saadoun, David, Weschler, Bertrand, LeHoang, Phuc, and Bodaghi, Bahram
- Subjects
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
- Full Text
- View/download PDF