• Andres F Lasave, Caiyun You, Lina Ma, Khawla Abusamra, Neerav Lamba, Manuel Valdes Navarro, Halea Meese, and C Stephen Foster.
• Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI), Waltham, Massachusetts.
• Retina (Philadelphia, Pa.). 2018 Feb 1; 38 (2): 395-402.

PurposeTo assess long-term effectiveness of rituximab therapy for refractory noninfectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment.MethodsRetrospective case series. Patients diagnosed with recalcitrant noninfectious posterior uveitis who were treated with rituximab intravenous infusions between 2010 and 2015 were included. Patients underwent best-corrected visual acuity testing and fluorescein angiography evidence of disk or vascular staining at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Patients had at least 24 months of follow-up.ResultsEleven patients (21 eyes) with refractory posterior uveitis treated with intravenous rituximab were included. Nine (81.8%) patients were female. Mean follow-up was 29.3 ± 7.8 months. rituximab was administered as complementary therapy because of previous inefficacy of other therapies in 7 (63.7%) patients, and it was the only treatment in four (36.3%) patients who did not tolerate other drugs. Inflammation signs by fluorescein angiography were controlled in nine (81.8%) patients at the end of follow-up. Baseline best-corrected visual acuity was 20/80 (logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution 0.6 ± 0.4), and final best-corrected visual acuity was 20/40 (0.3 ± 0.5) (P = 0.005). No significant side effects were reported.ConclusionRituximab therapy was associated with stability and remission of recalcitrant noninfectious posterior uveitis in patients who did not tolerate or did not respond to other therapies.

36 keywords...

hide…