Victor Menezo

Behcet Disease: Visual Prognosis and Factors Influencing the Development of Visual Loss

PURPOSE To assess the visual prognosis of patients with ocular Behçet disease and to determine factors predictive of visual loss and severe visual loss. DESIGN Retrospective case series. METHODS One hundred seventy-five eyes of 107 patients diagnosed with ocular Behçet disease were included. The main outcome measures were visual loss (best-corrected visual acuity, worse than 20/40) and severe visual loss (best-corrected visual acuity, 20/200 or worse). RESULTS The mean duration of follow-up was 6.5 years. Presenting visual acuity was worse than 20/40 in 50% of eyes and 20/200 or worse in 21% of eyes; approximately one third of this was reversible with treatment. The most common cause of irreversible severe visual loss was ischemic maculopathy. At 10 years, there was a 39% risk of visual loss and a 24% risk of severe visual loss, the latter figure being reduced to 13% if patients with irreversible visual loss at presentation were excluded. After controlling for potentially confounding variables, male sex, unilateral disease, and left eye involvement all were statistically significant risk factors for severe visual loss at 5 and 10 years. Patients who were treated with biologic agents were less likely to have severe visual loss in either eye at both 5 and 10 years. CONCLUSIONS Many patients with ocular Behçet disease still have irreversible visual loss at presentation. However, the visual prognosis is otherwise improved, with a 10-year risk of severe visual loss of 13% in this cohort. The use of biologic agents is associated with a lower risk of severe visual loss at 5 and 10 years.

Intraocular methotrexate can induce extended remission in some patients in noninfectious uveitis.

Purpose: To assess the outcomes of the intravitreal administration of methotrexate in uveitis. Methods: Multicenter, retrospective interventional case series of patients with noninfectious uveitis. Thirty-eight eyes of 30 patients were enrolled, including a total of 54 intravitreal injections of methotrexate at a dose of 400 µg in 0.1 mL. The primary outcome measure was visual acuity. Secondary outcome measures included control of intraocular inflammation and cystoid macular edema, time to relapse, development of adverse events, and levels of systemic corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy. Results: Methotrexate proved effective in controlling intraocular inflammation and improving vision in 30 of 38 eyes (79%). The side effect profile was good, with no reported serious ocular adverse events and only one patient having an intraocular pressure of >21 mmHg. Of the 30 eyes that responded to treatment, 8 relapsed, but 22 (73%) entered an extended period of remission, with the Kaplan–Meier estimate of median time to relapse for the whole group being 17 months. The eight eyes that relapsed were reinjected and all responded to treatment. One eye relapsed at 3 months, but 7 eyes again entered extended remission. Of the 14 patients on systemic therapy at the start of the study, 8 (57%) were able to significantly reduce this following intravitreal methotrexate injection. Conclusion: In patients with uveitis and uveitic cystoid macular edema, intravitreal MTX can effectively improve visual acuity and reduce cystoid macular edema and, in some patients, allows the reduction of immunosuppressive therapy. Some patients relapse at 3 to 4 months, but a large proportion (73%) enter an extended period of remission of up to 18 months. This larger study extends the results obtained from previous smaller studies suggesting the viability of intravitreal methotrexate as a treatment option in uveitis.

Clinical outcome of chronic immunosuppression in patients with non-infectious uveitis

Aim: To determine the visual outcome and corticosteroid dose requirement in patients with non‐infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment treated with corticosteroids and additional second‐line immunosuppression.

Intraoperative use of intravitreal triamcinolone in uveitic eyes having cataract surgery: Pilot study

PURPOSE: To report the outcomes of cataract extraction with intraoperative intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) in eyes with a history of posterior uveitis. SETTING: Moorfields Eye Hospital Uveitis Service, London, United Kingdom. METHODS: Nineteen eyes of 17 patients with posterior uveitis thought to require systemic corticosteroid prophylaxis for cataract surgery were included. The use of systemic corticosteroids at the time of surgery would have been problematic in 7 of the patients, who had a history of systemic hypertension. Three of the 7 patients were also diabetic. All patients were not happy about using oral corticosteroids. RESULTS: Median visual acuity 1 day after surgery was 20/40 (range 20/20 to counting fingers). At final follow‐up (mean 25.2 months; range 7 to 41 months), 17 eyes (89.5%) eyes achieved visual acuity of 20/40 or better; 2 eyes failed to achieve a final visual acuity of 20/40 or better, 1 as a result of optic atrophy and the other as a result of macular edema. No patient lost acuity and no eye developed macular edema within 4 months of surgery. Intraocular pressure elevation occurred after surgery in 3 eyes; all were controlled by topical medication that was discontinued after 3 months. One patient developed severe intraocular inflammation after surgery that resolved with intensive topical corticosteroid therapy within 1 week. CONCLUSIONS: Cataract extraction by phacoemulsification with concurrent IVTA appears a useful treatment option. Targeted delivery of corticosteroid is achieved without the risks of systemic corticosteroid prophylaxis. The incidence of postoperative macular edema was markedly reduced. Levels of visual acuity after cataract surgery, similar to those in eyes without uveitis, were achieved in eyes with posterior uveitis.

Positive response to intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to punctate inner choroidopathy.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to report the use of ranibizumab in choroidal neovascularization secondary to punctate inner choroidopathy. Methods: This was a retrospective case series. Clinical notes of 10 patients with choroidal neovascularization secondary to punctate inner choroidopathy were reviewed (mean age, 40.7 years, age range, 25-58 years). Results: Previous therapies included photodynamic therapy, posterior sub-Tenons triamcinolone, oral prednisolone, and intravitreal triamcinolone. Ten eyes in 10 patients underwent a mean of 1.9 ± 1.3 (± standard deviation) injections of antivascular endothelial growth factor (range, 1-5). All 10 patients had a follow-up review of at least 6 months (median, 12.5 ± 9.2 standard deviation; range, 6-34 months). Nine eyes either maintained or improved vision by at least 1 line on the logarithmic of the minimal angle of resolution calculated equivalent chart at least 6 months after the start of treatment with antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy. No ocular or systemic complications were observed. Conclusion: The role of ranibizumab in choroidal neovascularization in association with punctate inner choroidopathy has been shown to be beneficial in this small group in whom improvement or stabilization of vision was observed in 9 of 10 eyes. Recurrent choroidal neovascularization can occur in these patients, and additional injections of ranibizumab appear to be safe and efficacious.

Ocular features in neurosarcoidosis

Background/aims: To determine the type of ocular involvement in patients with neurosarcoidosis, and evaluate whether the type of eye involvement may help in the diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis. Methods: Retrospective, case history study. We reviewed the medical records of 46 patients who attended the sarcoidosis clinics at the Royal Brompton and Moorfields Eye Hospital over a 4-year period with a diagnosis of definite and probable neurosarcoidosis supported by laboratory investigations and exclusion of other causes for the neurological symptoms. Results: Cranial nerve involvement was the most common neurological manifestation in this series. Among the 27 patients with cranial neuropathy, lower motor neurone facial palsy was the most frequently seen in 19 patients (70.4%). Diplopia was seen in four patients (14.9%). In three patients, this was because of common oculomotor nerve paresis. Uveitis was the most common intraocular manifestation in patients with neurosarcoidosis. The majority of these patients (9, 64.3%) suffered from anterior uveitis, but in 35.7% of them the inflammatory process involved the posterior segment. Conclusions: We found a higher incidence of ocular manifestations, including intraocular inflammation in neurosarcoidosis compared to that in systemic sarcoidosis elsewhere. The most common ocular complication seen in our series was anterior uveitis; however there were no associated clinical features of the uveitis in these series that could contribute to the differential diagnosis between neurosarcoidosis and other autoimmune disorders with neuro-ophthalmic features such as multiple sclerosis. Patients with neurological symptoms and associated intraocular inflammation should have a routine work-up for sarcoidosis. Investigations should include MRI scan of the brain and orbits and lumbar puncture in selected cases. Tissue biopsy should be attempted when clinically accessible lesions are available i.e., conjunctiva or lacrimal gland.