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Best-corrected visual acuity and frequency of ocular attacks during the initial 10 years in patients with Behçet’s disease

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology volume 248, pages 709–714 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Recent publications have suggested considerable improvements in the clinical outcomes of ocular Behcet’s disease (BD) patients. However, the long-term time course of clinical ocular features of BD in recent cases remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated annual time-course changes of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) during ocular convalescent stages, as well as annual frequency of ocular attacks during the initial 10 years of follow-up in patients with BD.

Methods

We studied 75 eyes in 39 patients (31 men, eight women) with BD, who were referred to our hospital between 1980 and 1996 within 1 year after the initial ocular attack and followed them up continuously for more than 10 years. The clinical courses of BCVA at the ocular convalescent stage from the onset of ocular disease were retrospectively examined, and the numbers of ocular attacks per eye per year were determined.

Results

Mean BCVA was 0.59 at 1 year, 0.31 at 3 years, and 0.12 at 10 years from the onset of ocular disease, while the numbers of ocular attacks per eye were 4.1 ± 3.1 at 1 year, 2.2 ± 1.9 at 5 years, and 1.4 ± 1.8 at 10 years. Ocular attacks were still observed in 33 eyes (45%) of 21 patients (54%) with BD even after 10 years. Final BCVA in 42 eyes (56%) became lower than 0.5. The major reasons for poor visual prognosis were macular atrophy (41%) and chorioretinal atrophy (26%).

Conclusions

The decline of BVCA continued, and nearly half the patients still suffered from ocular attacks at 10 years after the onset of ocular BD.

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Acknowledgements

Research supported in part by grants from Behçet Disease Research Comittee, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Toshikatsu Kaburaki, Fumiyuki Araki, Mitsuko Takamoto, Jiro Numaga, Yujiro Fujino & Hidetoshi Kawashima

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Medical Center East, 2-1-10 Nishi-Ogu, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo, 116-8567, Japan

    Kimiko Okinaga & Atsushi Yoshida

Authors
  1. Toshikatsu Kaburaki
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  2. Fumiyuki Araki
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  3. Mitsuko Takamoto
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  4. Kimiko Okinaga
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  5. Atsushi Yoshida
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  6. Jiro Numaga
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  7. Yujiro Fujino
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  8. Hidetoshi Kawashima
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Correspondence to Toshikatsu Kaburaki.

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Kaburaki, T., Araki, F., Takamoto, M. et al. Best-corrected visual acuity and frequency of ocular attacks during the initial 10 years in patients with Behçet’s disease. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 248, 709–714 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-009-1234-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-009-1234-z

Keywords

  • Behçet’s disease
  • Ocular attack
  • Frequency
  • Visual acuity
  • Long-term observation