Peripheral ulcerative keratitis in rheumatoid arthritis patients taking tocilizumab: paradoxical manifestation or insufficient efficacy?

OBJECTIVES: Peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK) is a severe corneal condition associated with uncontrolled RA. Tocilizumab (TCZ) is used to control RA, however, episodes of paradoxical ocular inflammation have been reported in TCZ-treated patients. We report a case series of PUK in TCZ-treated RA patients with ophthalmological and systemic findings and discuss the potential underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Four patients (six eyes), 47-62 years of age, were included. At the onset of PUK, the median duration of RA was 13 years [interquartile range (IQR) 3-13] and the median treatment with TCZ was 9 months (IQR 3-14). Two patients had active disease [28-joint DAS (DAS28) >3.2] and the disease was controlled in two patients (DAS28 ≤3.2). RESULTS: TCZ was initially replaced by another immunomodulatory treatment in all patients and later reintroduced in two patients without PUK recurrence. Corneal inflammation was controlled in all cases with local and systemic treatments, with severe visual loss in one eye. CONCLUSION: PUK may occur in patients with long-standing RA after a switch to TCZ and can be interpreted, depending on the context, as insufficient efficacy or a paradoxical manifestation. These cases highlight the urgent need for reliable biomarkers of the efficacy and paradoxical reactions of biologics.

Unusual Severe Interface Inflammation After Uneventful Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE).

PURPOSE: To describe a 40-year-old woman who complained of visual loss in her left eye 3 days after an uneventful bilateral myopic refractive surgery by small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 4 × 5 mm anterior central stromal infiltration was observed with moderate pain associated with decreased corneal sensitivity and neither discharge nor fluorescein staining. Bacterial and fungal smears and cultures from the SMILE interface were negative and local antibiotic ineffective. She was subsequently treated with peribulbar dexamethasone injections and oral valacyclovir. Corneal infiltration disappeared progressively, replaced by fibrotic stromal scarring. Optical coherence tomography displayed stromal hyperreflectivity mostly located above the lenticule cut with slight involvement of posterior stroma. In vivo confocal microscopy demonstrated activated keratocytes and highlighted the lack of subbasal corneal nerves in her left eye contrasting with her right eye. CONCLUSIONS: Stromal herpetic keratitis could be considered a potential differential diagnosis to this atypical lamellar keratitis after a SMILE procedure. [J Refract Surg. 2016;32(12):855-857.].