Regular articleAnti–tumor necrosis factor-alpha therapy with infliximab as an alternative to corticosteroids in the treatment of human leukocyte antigen b27–associated acute anterior uveitis
Section snippets
Materials and methods
This study observed only acute HLA B27–positive uveitis. The clinical trial protocol and informed consent form followed Austrian national guidelines and were approved by the institutional Ethics and Research Committee; written, informed consent was obtained from all patients. The study conformed to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki, as revised in 1989. Disease activity was graded in accordance with the International Uveitis Study Group.17 Anterior chamber cells, as a validated indicator
Results
Seven patients received a single infusion of 10 mg/kg of infliximab. Because of a flare-up, one patient received a second infusion 3 weeks after the first. Table 1 outlines patient data on enrollment. The median age of the patients was 40 ± 13 years. The median follow-up was 17 ± 0.8 months. All but one patient had a history of at least one episode of uveitis. The current flare-up involved only one eye in all patients, and only one of them (patient 5) had received prior treatment with hourly
Discussion
We present the results of IV treatment of seven patients with HLA B27–positive anterior uveitis with infliximab at a dosage of 10 mg/kg. This dosage was used because it was proven to be highly effective in prior studies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.13 Infliximab was very efficient in suppressing intraocular inflammation; clinical symptoms improved significantly, and anterior chamber cells decreased rapidly. Only one patient with positive CRP levels as a systemic sign of inflammation
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