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Old and New Treatment for Behçet’s Disease

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Behçet's Syndrome

Part of the book series: Rare Diseases of the Immune System ((RDIS))

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Abstract

Due to the variable severity of clinical manifestations of Behcet’s disease (BD), the therapy should be modulated in function of the specific clinical manifestations. New topical therapies such as pimecrolimus and amlexanox are useful for oral and genital ulcers. Old systemic therapies, especially colchicine, azathioprine, and cyclosporine represent the first-line therapy in most cases. In presence of BD serious manifestations, including uveitis, vascular, neurologic, and intestinal involvement, an aggressive therapy with high-dose corticosteroids plus an immunosuppressive drug such as cyclosporine, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide is required. Recently, the efficacy of interferon alpha and anti-TNF for the treatment of refractory uveitis has been repeatedly reported. These therapies allowed the achievement of complete remission with improvement of visual acuity in 70–90 % of the cases of uveitis. Moreover, anti-TNF has been demonstrated as effective in all other BD manifestations. However, to date, these drugs should be used as second-line therapy in more severe forms of BD unresponsive to old immunosuppressive therapies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.O.C. Reumatologia—Ospedale di Prato, Piazza Ospedale, 1, 59100, Prato, Italy

    Fabrizio Cantini & Gerardo Di Scala

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  1. Fabrizio Cantini
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  2. Gerardo Di Scala
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Correspondence to Fabrizio Cantini .

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  1. SOD Patologia Medica, Center for Autoimmune Systemic Diseases, Behçet Center and Lupus Clinic - AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy

    Lorenzo Emmi

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Cantini, F., Di Scala, G. (2014). Old and New Treatment for Behçet’s Disease. In: Emmi, L. (eds) Behçet's Syndrome. Rare Diseases of the Immune System. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5477-6_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5477-6_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

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