Effectiveness of the Dexamethasone Implant in Lieu of Oral Corticosteroids in Intermediate and Posterior Uveitis Requiring Immunosuppression.

PURPOSE: To evaluate dexamethasone intravitreal implant effectiveness in lieu of high-dose oral prednisone for short-term treatment of noninfectious intermediate and posterior uveitis in patients requiring immunosuppression. METHODS: This is a proof-of-concept, open-label, non-comparative clinical trial with 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome was uveitis control without additional prednisone at 6 and 12 months. Secondary outcomes were need for multiple implants or additional prednisone, and safety data. RESULTS: 20 patients (28 eyes) were enrolled- 16 eyes had control by 6 months; 20 by 12 months. No patients required high-dose prednisone. 6 patients enrolled on prednisone: 2 stopped; 4 tapered to 7.5 mg daily or less by 12 months. 16 eyes required multiple implants; five required cataract surgery; 12 required drops to control IOP; 2 underwent glaucoma surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The dexamethasone implant was effective in lieu of high-dose prednisone although the majority required multiple implants. All patients decreased or discontinued prednisone during follow-up.

Disease Relapse After Drug-Free Remission in Ocular Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid.

PURPOSE: To quantitate the risk of relapse of ocular and extraocular disease among patients with mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) who had undergone drug-free remission. DESIGN: Retrospective, comparative, interventional case series. METHODS: There were 167 patients with biopsy-proven MMP who were seen at the Wilmer Eye Institute between November 1984 and December 2019. Among the 167 patients, 119 patients had ocular involvement and 103 of those patients received systemic treatment for MMP. The main outcome measures were the incidence of ocular remission, incidence rate of disease relapse after remission, and risk factors for disease relapse. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up time of 7 years, 74 of 103 treated patients (71.8%) experienced drug-free remission (incidence rate = 0.28/person-year [PY], 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.22-0.35/PY). Most patients (80/103, 77.7%) received cyclophosphamide therapy. Thirteen of the 74 patients (17.6%) had disease relapse after remission: 4 with ocular disease only, 4 with extraocular disease only, and 5 with both. The rate relapse of ocular MMP was 0.020/PY (95% CI 0.009-0.038/PY), and the rate of relapse of MMP at any site (ocular or extraocular site) was 0.029/PY (95% CI 0.015-0.050/PY). The use of cyclophosphamide was associated with a greater chance of remission (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.84, P < .0001) and a lower risk of relapse (HR = 0.32, P = .05) compared with other immunosuppressive drugs except for rituximab. Five patients experienced drug-free remission after rituximab therapy and none of them had relapse (median follow-up after remission = 3.6 years). When use of cyclophosphamide or rituximab was compared with all other treatments, the risk of MMP relapse at any site (HR = 0.17, P = .02) and of ocular MMP (HR = 0.11, P = .007) were significantly lower. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of relapse of MMP after drug-free remission are low but not zero; therefore, monitoring of patients remains necessary. Relapses were not observed among those patients treated with rituximab who had remission; however, follow-up duration in those patients was shorter than the whole MMP cohort and the sample size was small.

Incidence and Clinical Characteristics of Ocular Involvement in Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid.

Purpose: To describe the risk of developing ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) or a new extraocular site of MMP, and to identify risk factors for new involvement. Methods: Retrospective chart review of 162 biopsy-proven MMP patients. Results: At presentation, 109 of 162 MMP patients (67.3%) had ocular involvement and 53 patients did not. Of the 53 patients without ocular involvement at presentation followed up to 22 years, the risk of developing ocular MMP was 0.014 per person-year (PY, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.005/PY, 0.034/PY). The risk of developing any new location of extraocular MMP was 0.020/PY (95% CI: 0.007/PY, 0.043/PY). Smoking was a risk factor for developing an additional extraocular MMP location (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.09, p = 0.04). Conclusions: Patients presenting with extraocular MMP are at risk for developing ocular MMP, and all MMP patients are at risk for developing secondary extraocular MMP locations, although the rates were low.

Clinical Features and Incidence Rates of Ocular Complications in Patients With Retinal Vasculitis.

PURPOSE: To describe the incidence rates of visual loss and ocular complications in patients with retinal vasculitis (RV). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Clinical data were collected for 96 patients (175 eyes) diagnosed with RV from 2003 to 2013. Main outcome measures included rates of visual loss and ocular complications. Comparison of outcomes in patients with a relapsing vs nonrelapsing disease also were analyzed. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 44 months (range: 1-153 months), the rate of visual loss to 20/50 or worse was 0.13 per eye-year (/EY, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09/EY to 0.18/EY) and to 20/200 or worse was 0.06/EY (95% CI, 0.04/EY to 0.08/EY). The most common complications were cataract (0.31/EY), epiretinal membrane (0.16/EY), and recurrent macular edema (0.09/EY). Patients with a relapsing course (median number of relapses = 1, range: 1-6) appeared to have greater risk for visual loss to 20/50 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.07; 95% CI, 0.88-4.90, P = .09) and 20/200 or worse (OR = 2.49; 95% CI, 0.98-6.30, P = .05). Immunosuppressive drug therapy lowered the risk of visual loss, independent of relapsing disease course (OR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66-0.94, P = .01 and OR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.57-0.93, P = .01 for the 20/50 or worse and 20/200 or worse thresholds, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Rates of visual loss and complications among patients with RV were similar to reported rates in noninfectious uveitides. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs lowered the risk of visual loss. A relapsing course suggested an increased risk for visual loss but was not statistically significant, perhaps owing to low numbers of recurrences.