Clinical outcomes of cyclosporine treatment for noninfectious uveitis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the clinical outcomes of cyclosporine treatment for noninfectious uveitis.


METHODS
A retrospective review of medical records was completed for 182 noninfectious uveitis patients who were treated with cyclosporine between January 2001 and August 2010. Data was obtained relevant to demographic characteristics, anatomic classification, and laterality of uveitis, associated systemic disorder, dosage of cyclosporine and prednisolone, usage of other immunosuppressive drugs, visual acuity (VA), control of uveitic activity, and adverse effects during the cyclosporine use.


RESULTS
Uveitic activity was controlled to a level of minimal inflammation in 89.0% and completely in 78.6% of patients by the median duration of 49 and 98 days, respectively. Prednisolone-sparing (dose ≤10 mg) control of inflammation equal to or less than the minimal activity was achieved in 75.3% of patients. VA was aggravated more than 0.2 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution in 17.3% of eyes in spite of cyclosporine treatment for the mean follow-up of 698.4 days. Dose reduction and cessation of cyclosporine was required only in 3.3% and 9.3%, respectively, due to the intolerable toxicity, although 44.0% of patients experienced mild to moderate adverse effects.


CONCLUSIONS
Cyclosporine combined with corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive drugs as needed is an effective treatment for noninfectious uveitis, thus minimizing the adverse effects of corticosteroids and other toxic drugs. However, careful monitoring for the toxicity of cyclosporine is needed, because a small group of patients cannot tolerate its toxicity.
Department of Ophthalmology, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju, Korea.
Sun Ho
SH
Lee
Hum
H
Chung
Hyeong Gon
HG
Yu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014605:Uveitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014792:Visual Acuity
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D011239:Prednisolone