Carl P Herbort1,2, Ilknur Tugal-Tutkun3, Moncef Khairallah4, Ahmed M Abu El Asrar5, Carlos E Pavésio6, Masoud Soheilian7. 1. Retinal and Inflammatory Eye Diseases, Centre for Ophthalmic Specialized Care (COS), Clinic Montchoisi Teaching Centre, Rue Charles-Monnard 6, CH-1003, Lausanne, Switzerland. cph@herbortuveitis.ch. 2. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. cph@herbortuveitis.ch. 3. Department of Ophthalmology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. itutkun@yahoo.com. 4. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia. 5. Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Nasser Al-Rashid Research Chair in Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 6. National Institute for Health Research, Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust and UCL, Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK. 7. Department of Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Research Centre, Labbafinejad Medical Centre, Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Teheran, Iran.
Abstract
Background/Purpose Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a primary autoimmune stromal choroiditis producing a spill-over panuveitis. For initial-onset VKH disease, it is increasingly thought that corticosteroid therapy is not sufficient and additional non-steroidal immunosuppressive therapy is needed. At the 11th workshop on VKH, the disease was said to be well controlled with corticosteroids alone in Japanese patients. The aim of this study was to review the literature to determine whether different levels of severity exist in different geographical areas. METHODS: Literature was reviewed for studies on the evolution of initial-onset VKH disease, looking at treatment modalities and proportion of cases with chronic evolution and/or sunset-glow fundus (SGF). RESULTS: PubMed search yielded 1249 references containing the term of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada. Twenty references (15 from outside of Japan and 5 from Japan) contained information on the evolution of treated initial-onset disease. For the "international" group, percentage of chronic evolution after systemic corticosteroid monotherapy was 61%, and after combined steroidal and non-steroidal therapy it fell to 2% (0% in 3/4 studies). In the Japanese studies where all patients received systemic corticosteroids alone, chronic evolution was reported in 25%; however, SGF amounted to 61%. CONCLUSION: In the world at large, chronic evolution of initial-onset VKH disease treated with corticosteroids alone concerned two-thirds of patients. Japanese studies showed that chronic evolution was substantially less frequent, indicating possibly less severe disease in Japan. This proportion fell to almost zero when dual steroidal and non-steroidal immunosuppression was given at onset.
Background/Purpose Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a primary autoimmune stromal choroiditis producing a spill-over panuveitis. For initial-onset VKH disease, it is increasingly thought that corticosteroid therapy is not sufficient and additional non-steroidal immunosuppressive therapy is needed. At the 11th workshop on VKH, the disease was said to be well controlled with corticosteroids alone in Japanese patients. The aim of this study was to review the literature to determine whether different levels of severity exist in different geographical areas. METHODS: Literature was reviewed for studies on the evolution of initial-onset VKH disease, looking at treatment modalities and proportion of cases with chronic evolution and/or sunset-glow fundus (SGF). RESULTS: PubMed search yielded 1249 references containing the term of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada. Twenty references (15 from outside of Japan and 5 from Japan) contained information on the evolution of treated initial-onset disease. For the "international" group, percentage of chronic evolution after systemic corticosteroid monotherapy was 61%, and after combined steroidal and non-steroidal therapy it fell to 2% (0% in 3/4 studies). In the Japanese studies where all patients received systemic corticosteroids alone, chronic evolution was reported in 25%; however, SGF amounted to 61%. CONCLUSION: In the world at large, chronic evolution of initial-onset VKH disease treated with corticosteroids alone concerned two-thirds of patients. Japanese studies showed that chronic evolution was substantially less frequent, indicating possibly less severe disease in Japan. This proportion fell to almost zero when dual steroidal and non-steroidal immunosuppression was given at onset.