Vitrectomy for persistent panuveitis in Behcet's disease

Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine whether vitrectomy is safe and effective for the management of vitreoretinal complications in Behcet's patients with persistent panuveitis. METHODS: Patients who had undergone therapeutic vitrectomy for Behcet's panuveitis were reviewed retrospectively. Those patients who had shown persistent uveitis despite maximum medical therapy were included. Surgical outcomes were measured by an improvement in vision of 0.3 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution, acute relapse rates, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients with a mean postoperative follow-up of 30 months were identified. For almost all patients visual acuity and inflammatory control were significantly improved after vitrectomy. However, patients with optic disc neovascularization (NVD) showed no improvement in their vision or inflammatory control. The postoperative rise of intraocular pressure was frequently associated with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injections. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that vitrectomy may be both safe and effective for the management of vitreoretinal complications in Behcet's patients with persistent uveitis. Patients with NVD, however, may have poor outcomes.