Interferon alpha for ocular Behçet's disease.

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic role of interferon a in ocular Behcet's disease. Methods: Three patients with B- or C-hepatitis and ocular sight-threatening Behcet's disease unresponsive to steroids were treated subcutaneously with interferon a 3 x 10(6)/unit three times per week for a mean period of 22 months (range: 12-31 months). The course of ocular and systemic lesions was recorded and compared with a similar pre-treatment period. Results: At least a 50% reduction in the number of ocular relapses was observed in all the patients (mean relapse/month: 0.41 versus 0.16 in the pre-and in-treatment period, respectively) while during therapy also each relapse lasted less in all subjects. A reduction of steroid dependence was observed in all patients,,while no significant side-effects were related to interferon a administration, Two patients who tried to stop interferon a therapy showed after a mean period of 12.5 days a recurrence of diffuse uveitis and, one of them experienced oral and genital aphthae as well. Conclusion: In patients with Behcet's disease interferon a seems to be a useful alternative therapy for sight-threatening ocular involvement.