Postsurgical sympathetic ophthalmia refractory to treatment: the response to infliximab.

Purpose: A clinical case of a postoperative sympathetic ophthalmia is presented and its response to the monoclonal antibody infliximab.

Patients: A 61-year-old woman.

Results: The treatment with prednisone, cyclosporine, azathioprine, and mycophenolate mofetil did not completely control the loss of visual acuity caused by the disease. Monthly intravenous infusions of infliximab (5 mg/kg) significantly improved the condition of the patient, allowing the cyclosporine and azathioprine to be withdrawn and the prednisone to be reduced to 10 mg/d.

Conclusion: The use of the immunosuppressive drug infliximab in combination with prednisone improved the prognosis of a patient suffering from sympathetic ophthalmia. The reported effectiveness of infliximab in the treatment of T lymphocyte-mediated diseases suggests that it could be used earlier in cases of sympathetic ophthalmia when treatment with corticosteroids must be shortened.