The effectiveness of pre- and postoperative infliximab in controlling behçet's disease posterior uveitis in patients undergoing vitrectomy: a preliminary study

Purpose. to evaluate the short-term effectiveness of infliximab in controlling ocular manifestations in behçet's disease (bd) patients candidate for pars plana vitrectomy,if given in a regimen before and after the planned procedure. patients and methods. 30 eyes of 27 adult male bd patients with a mean age of 35.56 yrs presented with refractory posterior uveitis not responding to immunosuppressive drugs and candidate for vitrectomy were included. infliximab was given in a dose of 5 mg/kg intravenous infusion once every two weeks for 3 treatment sessions before the intended vitrectomy followed by 3 treatment sessions at two-week intervals,after vitrectomy. results. improvement of ocular manifestations was noted in all eyes,with complete resolution in 26 eyes (87%). visual acuity improved from 0.23 ± 0.11 to 0.38 ± 0.17 (p≤0.2),esr decreased from 65.92 mm/hr ± 17.32 sd to 24.93 mm/hr ± 5.28 sd at the last treatment cycle (p≤0.1). the mean daily dose of systemic corticosteroids was tapered from 44.54 mg/d ± 2.89 to 8.48 mg/d ± 6.38 (p≤0.2),and no relapses were noted during the follow-up period. conclusion. infliximab may be safe and effective in controlling posterior uveitis and inducing remissions if given in a regimen before and after vitrecomy in bd patients. © 2017 hossam el din mohamed khalil et al.