The Efficacy of Infliximab in Refractory Uveitis.

Kim, Joon Hyung; Lee, Dong Wook; Cho, Nam Chun

doi:2016.57.1.50

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc > Volume 57(1); 2016 > Article

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2016;57(1):50-55.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2016.57.1.50 Published online January 15, 2016.

The Efficacy of Infliximab in Refractory Uveitis.

Joon Hyung Kim, Dong Wook Lee, Nam Chun Cho

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea. cnauo@jbnu.ac.kr
²Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea.
³Biomedical Research Institute, Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea.

난치성 포도막염에서 인플릭시맵 치료 결과

김준형¹⋅이동욱^1,2,3⋅조남천^1,2,3

전북대학교 의과대학 안과학교실¹, 전북대학교 임상의학연구소², 전북대학교병원 의생명연구원³

Abstract

PURPOSE
To investigate the effectiveness of infliximab as treatment for refractory uveitis that recurred in spite of immunosuppressive agents. METHODS: Thirty patients who were treated for refractory uveitis from 2002 to 2011 were included in this study. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 15 patients who were treated with Infliximab and 15 patients not treated with Infliximab. Infliximab was injected intravenously (5 mg/kg) 3 times every 4 weeks, and the patients were followed-up at 1 week, 2 weeks, and every month thereafter. Anterior chamber cell reaction with a score greater than 0.5+ was defined as recurrence of uveitis. RESULTS: Among 15 patients treated with Infliximab, only one showed no response to the medication. The recurrence rate was significantly higher in patients receiving Infliximab treatment (1.1 +/- 0.2 times) than in those not receiving Infliximab treatment (3.1 +/- 0.3 times) (p=0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Infliximab can be used effectively on patients with refractory uveitis. However, a future prospective randomized study is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of Infliximab and to determine an accurate protocol regarding dosage and number of injections.

Key Words: Infliximab;Refractory uveitis;TNF-alpha