The efficacy of novel therapeutic modalities of isolated ocular vasculitis vs ocular vasculitis as a systemic disease.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of new therapeutic modalities with the observation period of three years on patients with isolated ocular vasculitis in comparison with ocular vasculitis as a systemic disease.

METHODS

The effectiveness of the therapy was assessed based on the changes in visual acuity and degree of ocular inflammation (mild, medium, moderate, severe) with the following parameters: vitreous body cloudiness, blood vessels layering, macula oedema, blood vessels occlusion and new vascularisation

RESULTS

New therapeutic modalities resulted in reduction in the number of patients with severe inflammation in the group of isolated ocular vasculitis from 8(13.5%) to 7(12.2%) after three years, while the number of patients with mild inflammation increased from 13(20.7%) to 18 (29.3%) in the same group (p>0.05). The number of patients with severe ocular inflammation in a group of ocular vasculitis as systemic disease increased from 3(16.2%) to 4(21.6%), because of the presence of patients with Behçet's disease. The number of patients with visual acuity less than 0.1 decreased from 11(17%) to 8(13.4%) in a group of patients with ocular vasculitis as systemic disease, which was associated with the presence of Behçet's disease too (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the effect of new therapeutic modalities did not result in statistically significant improvement in visual acuity and reducing inflammation, systemic and intravitreal corticosteroids with steroid-sparing immunomodulatory therapy represents effective strategies in forms of isolated ocular vasculitis and ocular vasculitis as systemic disease.