INTRODUCTION: Macular edema is always a major complication in intermediate and/or posterior uveitis. Some of these macular edemas are refractory to steroid and/or immunosuppressive drugs. Interferon, a validated treatment for Behçet disease, has antiproliferative and immunoregulative properties that may be very valuable in uveitic edema refractory to steroid and/or immunosuppressive agents. Recent studies have brought out the value of interferon-alpha by demonstrating its low blood rate in affected patients. OBSERVATIONS: We describe a series of six consecutive uveitic macular edema, secondary to two birdshot retinochoroidopathy, and four cases of idiopathic uveitis treated with interferon-alpha. Our small case series showed a 189.7+/-67 mum decrease in mapping and an improvement in visual acuity of 0.35+/-0.21 LogMAR. DISCUSSION: Other publications have shown a remarkable efficacy on macular edema and visual acuity in less than 1 month of treatment. Our small case series found the same results as the other studies, despite a less aggressive therapeutic regimen. However, we also observed some well-known side effects, in particular depression. CONCLUSION: In our series of six consecutive cases of uveitic macular edema refractory to steroid or immunosuppressive drugs, alpha-interferon provided highly advantageous anatomical and functional results. The treatment modality must be specified, but it seems that a shorter duration and lower posologies might be as effective and lead to a lower rate of complications than the regimen currently proposed in the literature.
INTRODUCTION: Macular edema is always a major complication in intermediate and/or posterior uveitis. Some of these macular edemas are refractory to steroid and/or immunosuppressive drugs. Interferon, a validated treatment for Behçet disease, has antiproliferative and immunoregulative properties that may be very valuable in uveitic edema refractory to steroid and/or immunosuppressive agents. Recent studies have brought out the value of interferon-alpha by demonstrating its low blood rate in affected patients. OBSERVATIONS: We describe a series of six consecutive uveitic macular edema, secondary to two birdshot retinochoroidopathy, and four cases of idiopathic uveitis treated with interferon-alpha. Our small case series showed a 189.7+/-67 mum decrease in mapping and an improvement in visual acuity of 0.35+/-0.21 LogMAR. DISCUSSION: Other publications have shown a remarkable efficacy on macular edema and visual acuity in less than 1 month of treatment. Our small case series found the same results as the other studies, despite a less aggressive therapeutic regimen. However, we also observed some well-known side effects, in particular depression. CONCLUSION: In our series of six consecutive cases of uveitic macular edema refractory to steroid or immunosuppressive drugs, alpha-interferon provided highly advantageous anatomical and functional results. The treatment modality must be specified, but it seems that a shorter duration and lower posologies might be as effective and lead to a lower rate of complications than the regimen currently proposed in the literature.
Authors: Mathilde Leclercq; M Le Besnerais; V Langlois; N Girszyn; Y Benhamou; C Ngo; H Levesque; M Muraine; J Gueudry Journal: Clin Rheumatol Date: 2018-02-03 Impact factor: 2.980