Long-term Efficacy of Interferon in Severe Uveitis Associated with Behcet Disease

Purpose: To retrospectively assess the frequency of ocular relapse and the possibility of long-term remission in patients treated with interferon (IFN) for severe uveitis associated with Behcet disease. Methods: All patients were treated with an initial dosage of 3 million IU IFN three times a week. The main outcome measure was the number of relapses per person per year before, during, and after IFN treatment. Results: Of 36 patients (67 eyes), 31 (86.1%) responded to IFN. The mean follow-up was 8.19 years. Twenty-one out of 36 patients discontinued IFN and 76% of these have not relapsed within 5.05 years after discontinuation. The mean relapse per person per year decreased significantly from 1.39 to 0.0496 (p = 1.82x10(-10)) during the treatment period and remained at 0.057 relapses per person per year after IFN discontinuation. Conclusion: IFN efficiently decreases the relapse rate and seems to permit long-term remission even after discontinuation.