Publications (2)4.02 Total impact
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Article: [Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. Characteristics of a series of Andalusian patients].
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ABSTRACT: To describe the characteristics of a series of patients diagnosed of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKHD) and controlled by an Uveitis Unit (composed of ophthalmologists and internists) in our population. Retrospective descriptive study of 11 patients with VKHD (5 males and 6 women; median age at diagnosis 32.6 years old) followed-up between 1980 and 2003. All patients suffered panuveitis and/or exudative retinal detachment. Extraocular signs were present in all cases: neurological in 63.7% (aseptic meningitis and/or focal symptoms), cutaneous in 81.8% (vitiligo, whiteness, poliosis, alopecia), neurosensorial hypoacusis (50% of patients with audiometry), and general symptoms in 25%. They all received systemic corticosteroids. Cyclosporine was added in 5 patients (45.4%) with posterior uveitis, and azathioprine in 2 of them for iridocyclitis. The final visual acuity was 0.5 or better in 81.8% of cases, but 2 patients had an unfavourable evolution (one, who had cataract and band keratopathy in the left eye and severe visual worsening, needed right vitrectomy, and the other suffered severe ocular hypotension). Complications developed in 2 other patients: cataract and glaucoma in one, and synechiae without glaucoma in the other. We found less frequency of exudative retinal detachment and greater frequency of cutaneous signs than the communicated. A significant percentage of cases needed immunosuppressive agents. Final visual acuity was good in the majority of patients.Revista Clínica Española 10/2006; 206(8):388-91. · 2.01 Impact Factor -
Article: [The use of interferon alfa-2r in the treatment of autoimmune uveitis (primary or associated with Behçet's disease)].
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ABSTRACT: The improvement in ocular inflammation in patients with cyclosporine A resistant Behçet disease (CyA) during therapy of severe aphthosis with recombinant interferon-alpha 2b (IFN alpha) prompted its evaluation for treatment of refractory autoimmune uveitis. IFN alpha was used in 18 patients with posterior uveitis, nine with Behçet disease and nine with primary uveitis (mean evolution time 3.8 years) previously treated with corticosteroids (18), CyA (16) and azathioprine (1). The dose was 5 MU/day (4 weeks) and then twice weekly (12 weeks) maintaining the previous therapy. Evaluations were made at the start of the study, two weeks and two months and a cross-sectional study in February 1995. At the early phase both vitreal cellularity (p = 0.01) and macular edema (p = 0.003) improved; at the late phase improvements were noted in vitreal cellularity (p < 0.0001), macular (p < 0.0001) and papillar edema (p = 0.04) and visual acuity (p = 0.006). In February 1995 (mean evolution time 30 months), ten patients (56%) remain without treatment with inactive disease, six (33%) with CyA and two (11%) with CyA and IFN alpha. Improvements in vitreal cellularity (p = 0.0001), macular edema (p = 0.0001) and visual acuity (p = 0.013) were still present although macular ischemia was more severe than at the beginning (p = 0.035). The most important adverse reactions (late reactions) included depression (three cases) and thyroid changes (two cases). IFN alpha is an important therapeutic alternative for posterior uveitis refractory to corticosteroid therapy (included CyA).Revista Clínica Española 05/1996; 196(5):293-8. · 2.01 Impact Factor
