Efficacy of Rituximab Treatment in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease Poorly Controlled by Traditional Immunosuppressive Treatment. (18th August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bolletta, Elena; Gozzi, Fabrizio; Mastrofilippo, Valentina; Pipitone, Nicolò; De Simone, Luca; Croci, Stefania; Invernizzi, Alessandro; Adani, Chantal; Iannetta, Danilo; Coassin, Marco; Fontana, Luigi; Salvarani, Carlo; Cimino, Luca
• Is Part Of: Ocular immunology and inflammation. Volume 30:Number 6(2022)
• Page Start: 1303
• Page End: 1308
• Publication Date: 2022-08-18
• Subjects: Rituximab -- RTX -- uveitis -- VKH -- Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada; Eye -- Diseases -- Immunological aspects -- Periodicals; Eye -- Inflammation -- Periodicals; 617.7
• DOI: 10.1080/09273948.2021.1880604
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0927-3948

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of Rituximab (RTX) therapy in patients affected by Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease poorly controlled by traditional immunosuppressive treatment. Methods: Retrospective case series of recurrent VKH uveitis treated with intravenous RTX between January 2019 and November 2020. All patients were treated with intravenous RTX and underwent complete ophthalmic examination, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus photography, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) measurement on enhanced depth imaging optical-coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), fluorescein, and indocyanine green angiography. Results: Five patients were included. All patients received at least 3 RTX infusions. Mean BCVA improved from 20/32 Snellen equivalent at baseline before RTX treatment to 20/28 Snellen equivalent ( p = .008). Mean SFCT on EDI-OCT showed a reduction from 564.4 µm(SD = 176.2) to 280.0 µm(SD = 140.4) ( p = .015). Follow-up ranged from 12 to 21 months, with a mean of 18.2 ± 3.7 months. Conclusions: In these case series, RTX was effective in VHK disease poorly controlled by traditional immunosuppressive treatment.