Clinical experience with adalimumab in the treatment of ocular Behçet disease.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the clinical outcome of refractory ocular Behçet disease with adalimumab therapy.


METHODS
Retrospective review of records.


RESULTS
Twenty-one eyes of 11 male patients with ocular Behçet disease received adalimumab therapy. Of the 21 eyes, 17 had improvement of visual acuity by more than 3 lines after the average follow-up of 10.8 months. Ten out of 11 patients showed complete resolution of inflammation by 4 weeks. The dosages of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs were reduced in most of the patients and stopped altogether in 3 and 6 patients, respectively. One patient on infliximab showed improvement of inflammation after switching over to adalimumab. No serious side effects were observed in any of the patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Adalimumab appears to be effective in Behçet disease. It has been shown to improve visual acuity and also to have a corticosteroid and immunosuppressive sparing effect. It can induce and maintain sustained remission of the disease.
Bawazeer
Ahmed
A
King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. drbawazeer@yahoo.com
Raffa
Lina H
LH
Nizamuddin
S H M
SH
D000068879:Adalimumab; D000328:Adult; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014605:Uveitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000068879:Adalimumab