Vol. 46 No.2 Original Article PDF

Landmark Studies in Uveitis

Neil Onghanseng, MD1,2, Franz Marie Cruz, MD3,4,5

1DOH Eye Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Quezon City 
2Department of Ophthalmology, Makati Medical Center, Makati City 
3College of Medicine, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila 
4International Eye Institute, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City 
5Peregrine Eye and Laser Institute, Makati City

 

Correspondence: Franz Marie Cruz, MD 
Peregrine Eye and Laser Institute, 5/F Morning Star Center,  
347 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave, Brgy Bel-Air, Makati City 
e-mail: fmocruz@gmail.com

Disclaimer: The authors report no conflicts of interest or financial disclosures from the devices and drugs mentioned in the paper.

ABSTRACT 

This paper provides the summaries on nine (9) important and clinically relevant publications in the field of  uveitis. The first is on the standardization of uveitis nomenclature, more popularly known by its acronym – SUN,  which was a result of an international workshop participated by uveitis experts in 2004. Five (5) papers were  large, multicenter, clinical trials that demonstrated safety and efficacy of two (2) corticosteroids delivery devices  (dexamethasone implant [Ozurdex] and fluocinolone acetonide implant [RetisertTM]) and one (1) immunomodulatory  drug (adalimumab). The POINT trial compared various delivery approaches when using corticosteroids for the  treatment of uveitic macular edema. The FAST trial compared two (2) durable and commonly-prescribed steroid-sparing immunosuppressants, methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil, for the treatment of non-infectious  uveitis. Lastly, the SITE study, which was a large retrospective cohort study, determined the risks of overall and  malignancy-related deaths among patients with inflammatory eye diseases receiving systemic immunosuppressants.  Findings of these studies provide basis and rationale for the care and management of patients with uveitis and lay  the groundwork for future research.

Keywords: uveitis, clinical trial, review, inflammatory eye disease, corticosteroids

Philipp J Ophthalmol 2021;46:60-71