[Treatment of ocular inflammatory disease with glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide pulses]

The effectiveness, toxicity and prognostic factors influencing responses to cyclophosphamide (CP) iv pulses plus oral glucocorticosteroids (GC) in patients with GC-resistant ocular inflammatory diseases (OID) was evaluated in a cohort of 15 consecutive patients suffering from active, non-infectious OID refractory to oral GC. All patients underwent monthly evaluations with clinical, hematological, hepatic, renal and ophthalmologic tests. These included checking visual acuity and both anterior chamber and posterior segment inflammation. The overall effect evaluated by repeated measurements ANOVA demonstrated that after an average of 5 CP pulses 1-10, the group showed significant improvement regarding of visual acuity and inflammation (p < 0.000001). Amelioration was not sustained over time in patients with granulomatous uveitis. Patients with retinal vasculitis experienced rapid and sustained recovery. By the end of the follow-up period, 53% of the patients had improved, 20% remained stationary and 26% suffered visual acuity deterioration as compared with the baseline. No serious side effects were detected during treatment and follow-up.

A combination of oral GC and iv CP pulses appears to be an effective way to treat patients suffering from noninfectious, non-granulomatous, GC-resistant OID.