Abstract
Purpose: :
To report the efficacy and tolerance of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for the treatment of non-infectious uveitis using the statistical methods advocated by the Standardisation of Uveitis Nomenclature (SUN) Working Group
Methods: :
A pre-defined data-set was retrospectively obtained from the case-notes of 100 consecutive patients treated between April 2000 and August 2006 at a single academic referral centre and analyzed in accordance with SUN recommendations. The main outcome measures were (i) the rate of tapering oral prednisone to 10mg daily, (ii) requirement for alternative second-line immunosuppressive therapy and (iii) rate of MMF dose discontinuation due to side-effects.
Results: :
In this large cohort with well-established ocular inflammation, patients successfully tapered their oral prednisone to 10mg daily at an average rate of 2.18 per patient year (PY), with an 85% probability of achieving ≤10mg after 1 year of treatment. Alternative second-line immunosuppressive therapy was introduced at a rate of 0.18/PY and MMF was discontinued due to intolerance at a rate of 0.09/PY, predominantly due to gastrointestinal upset. Rises in liver transaminases (0.09/PY) and alkaline phosphatase (0.02/PY) were also uncommon.
Keywords: uveitis-clinical/animal model • immunomodulation/immunoregulation • corticosteroids