Ten-Year Retention Rate of Infliximab in Patients with Behçet's Disease-Related Uveitis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the 10-year drug retention rate of infliximab (IFX) in Behçet's disease (BD)-related uveitis, the effect of a concomitant use of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on drug survival and differences according to the lines of biologic treatment. METHODS: Cumulative survival rates were studied using the Kaplan-Meier plot, while the Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test was used to compare survival curves. RESULTS: Forty patients (70 eyes) were eligible for analysis. The drug retention rates at 12-, 24-, 60- and 120-month follow-up were 89.03%, 86.16%, 75.66% and 47.11% respectively. No differences were identified according to the use of concomitant DMARDs (p = 0.20), while a statistically significant difference was observed in relation to the different lines of IFX treatment (p = 0.014). Visual acuity improved from baseline to the last follow-up visit (p = 0.047) and a corticosteroid-sparing effect was observed (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: IFX retention rate in BD-uveitis is excellent and is not affected by concomitant DMARDs. KEYWORDS: Behçet’s disease; drug retention rate; infliximab; treatment; uveitis