title: Clinical Experience of Interferon Alfa-2a Treatment for Refractory Uveitis in Behçet's Disease.
abstract: Behçet's disease (BD) involves multisystem vasculitis of unknown origin. Ocular manifestations of BD mostly include bilateral panuveitis and retinal vasculitis, which are very challenging to treat. Interferon alfa-2a (IFN) has been recently introduced for treating refractory Behçet uveitis, mainly in Germany and Turkey. Nonetheless, there is so far no consensus about the ideal treatment regimen of IFN for Behçet uveitis. We report our experience of IFN treatment in five Korean BD patients with refractory uveitis. All patients complained of oral ulcers; one patient had a positive pathergy test and 2 showed the presence of HLA-B51. Immunosuppressive agents used prior to IFN treatment included cyclosporine and methotrexate. The IFN treatment was commenced with a dose of 6-9 MIU/day for 7 days, adjusted according to individual ocular manifestations, tapered down to 3 MIU three times in a week, and then discontinued. All patients showed positive response to IFN treatment; 50% of them showed complete response without additional major ocular inflammation during the follow-up period. Other BD symptoms also improved after IFN treatment in most cases. After treatment, the relapse rate and the required dose of oral corticosteroid were decreased in most cases, showing a significant steroid-sparing effect. However, the visual acuity was not improved in most cases due to irreversible macular sequelae. Despite the small sample size of this study, we suggest that, in Korean patients, IFN is an effective treatment modality for BD uveitis as was observed in German and Turkish patients.
authors.affiliation: Ozhean Skin Clinic, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoo-Ri
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kihwang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea. esl@ajou.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eun-So
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey; D014605:Uveitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D014792:Visual Acuity
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016572:Cyclosporine
keywords: Behçet's disease; interferon alfa-2a; uveitis