INFLIXIMAB THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH NONINFECTIOUS INTERMEDIATE UVEITIS RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL IMMUNOMODULATORY THERAPY.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the efficacy and safety of infliximab therapy in the treatment for noninfectious intermediate uveitis resistant to conventional immunomodulatory therapy.


METHODS
Forty-four eyes of 23 patients with resistant noninfectious intermediate uveitis who were treated with infliximab infusions for a minimum period of 3 months were included. Demographic data, clinical data, and fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography findings were collected from the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution database between August 2005 and February 2014. Clinical response, improvement in ancillary test findings, and major side effects were evaluated.


RESULTS
Nineteen patients (82.6%) achieved remission. The mean duration of treatment to induce remission was 3.99 ± 3.06 months (range, 2-14.7). Cystoid macular edema was the only complication observed during the course of the treatment in 1 eye (2.27%). One patient (4.3%) developed major side effects. None of the patients developed central or peripheral demyelinating neuropathies or multiple sclerosis. At 6 months after remission, logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity (P = 0.006) and central macular thickness (P = 0.03) showed significant improvement in patients who achieved remission.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant number of patients achieved remission on infliximab therapy. The incidence of major side effects in our cohort was low.
*Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI), Waltham, Massachusetts; †Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation (OIUF), Weston, Massachusetts; ‡Columbia University, Department of Statistics, New York, New York; and §Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Arash
A
Maleki
Haitham F
HF
Sahawneh
Lina
L
Ma
Halea
H
Meese
Yuchen
Y
He
C Stephen
CS
Foster
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D000069285:Infliximab / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D015867:Uveitis, Intermediate / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000069285:Infliximab