TY - JOUR T1 - Human recombinant interferon alfa-2a for the treatment of Behçet's disease with sight threatening posterior or panuveitis JF - British Journal of Ophthalmology JO - Br J Ophthalmol SP - 423 LP - 431 DO - 10.1136/bjo.87.4.423 VL - 87 IS - 4 AU - I Kötter AU - M Zierhut AU - A K Eckstein AU - R Vonthein AU - T Ness AU - I Günaydin AU - B Grimbacher AU - S Blaschke AU - W Meyer-Riemann AU - H H Peter AU - N Stübiger Y1 - 2003/04/01 UR - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/87/4/423.abstract N2 - Background: Behçet's disease is a multisystem vasculitis of unknown origin. Standard treatment mainly comprises systemic immunosuppressive agents. Ocular involvement, mostly posterior uveitis with retinal vasculitis, leads to blindness in 20–50% of the involved eyes within 5 years. The efficacy of interferon alfa-2a was studied in patients with sight threatening posterior uveitis or retinal vasculitis. Methods: 50 patients were included in this open, non-randomised, uncontrolled prospective study. Recombinant human interferon alfa-2a (rhIFNα-2a) was applied at a dose of 6 million units subcutaneously daily. Dose reduction was performed according to a decision tree until discontinuation. Disease activity was evaluated every 2 weeks by the Behçet's disease activity scoring system and the uveitis scoring system. Results: Response rate of the ocular manifestations was 92% (three non-responder, one incomplete response). Mean visual acuity rose significantly from 0.56 to 0.84 at week 24 (p<0.0001). Posterior uveitis score of the affected eyes fell by 46% every week (p<0.001). Remission of retinal inflammation was achieved by week 24. Mean Behçet's disease activity score fell from 5.8 to 3.3 at week 24 and further to 2.8 at week 52. After a mean observation period of 36.4 months (range 12–72), 20 patients (40%) are off treatment and disease free for 7–58 months (mean 29.5). In the other patients maintenance IFN dosage is three million units three times weekly. Conclusions: rhIFNα-2a is effective in ocular Behçet's disease, leading to significant improvement of vision and complete remission of ocular vasculitis in the majority of the patients. ER -