Giant cell arteritis with ocular involvement successfully treated with tocilizumab and very short-course glucocorticoids: A case report.

PURPOSE: To report the case of a patient with arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AAION) with a history of glucocorticoids (GC) hypersensitivity treated with monthly intravenous tocilizumab (IV TCZ) and short course of GC. CASE REPORT: A 71-year-old Caucasian patient presented with AAION related to giant cell arteritis (GCA) confirmed by temporal artery biopsy. Past medical history was significant for GC hypersensitivity proven by allergy evaluation and the patient was managed with IV TCZ and very short-course GC. CONCLUSION: TCZ therapy with very short-course GC could be effective in GCA with ophthalmic involvement as a first-line strategy. Clinical trials are needed for thorough evaluation of the efficiency of TCZ as a first-line treatment to induce and maintain remission in patients with GCA and ocular involvement.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease: a retrospective and multicentric study of 41 patients.

BACKGROUND: East and South East Asian subjects as well as Amerindians and Hispanic subjects are predominantly affected by Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. In Europe, only few studies have described the clinical features and treatment of this disease, especially in France. METHODS: This retrospective case series was based on data collected from patients with a VKH disease diagnosed from January 2000 to March 2017, provided by three French Tertiary Centers. RESULTS: Forty-one patients (16 men and 25 women) were diagnosed: average age at diagnosis was 38.7 years. Patients were mainly from Maghreb (58%), but ethnic origins were multiple. Pleiocytosis was observed in 19 cases (63%) and 17 out of 41 patients showed audio vestibular signs (41%), and 11 showed skin signs (27%). Thirty-four were treated with corticosteroids (83%), 11 with an immunosuppressant treatment (27%) and 5 with biological therapy drugs (13%). Relapse was observed in 41% patients, even though final average visual acuity had improved. We did not find any significant clinical difference in the population from Maghreb compared to other populations, but for age and sex trends, since there was a majority of younger women. CONCLUSION: We report here the second largest French cohort reported to date to our knowledge. The multiethnicity in our study suggests that VKH disease should be evoked whatever patients' ethnicity.