Autoimmune uveitis is usually a diagnosis of exclusion. Part of the challenge of effective management of noninfectious uveitis is that it is not really a single disease, but a constellation of several diseases.
Researchers have noted a prescribing shift towards the use of alternative biologics that they believe is mostly driven by disease subtype and history of chronic anterior uveitis.
Adalimumab significantly lowered risk of uveitic flare in patients with noninfectious uveitis.
Allan Gibofsky, MD, attending rheumatologist and Co-director of the Clinic for Inflammatory Arthritis at Hospital for Special Surgery, in New York City, met with Rheumatology Advisor to discuss the recent approval of adalimumab for noninfectious uveitis.
The recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of adalimumab (Humira®, AbbVie) for the treatment of noninfectious intermediate, posterior, and pan-uveitis is the first step beyond traditional corticosteroid therapy and toward use of targeted biologics for this rare ocular emergency.
Hip-joint lesions, number of affected peripheral arthritis joints, ASO, and CIC were found to be associated with higher rates of uveitis in AS.
Uveitis may occur in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Behcet’s disease, and HLA B27-associated seronegative spondyloarthropathies. Prompt initiation of treatment may improve clinical outcomes, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between rheumatologists and ophthalmologists.
Uveitis flares occurred at a lower rate in patients treated with certolizumab pegol vs placebo.
