Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

Infliximab treatment trial in a patient with neuro-Behcet's disease unresponsive to other treatments

Suguru Kadowaki, M.D., Nozomu Matsuda, M.D., Arata Moriya, M.D., Masahiro Ebitani, M.D., Akioh Yoshihara, M.D., Kouichirou Nakamura, M.D., Hitoshi Mochizuki, M.D. and Yoshikazu Ugawa, M.D.

Department of Neurology, Fukushima Medical University

A 22-year-old man with a previous uveitis episode was admitted to our hospital because of persistent hiccup. On admission, he presented right-upper quadrantanopia, mydriasis and lack of the light reflex in the left eye, leftsided hemiplegia, and bilateral pathologic hyperreflexia. The MR fluid attenuated inversion recovery images showed left side dominant, high intensity lesions on the brainstem and the diencephalon. The HLA-B51 was positive. The CSF IL-6 was extremely elevated (998 pg/ml: reference value <=6.0 pg/ml). Based on these, we concluded he had the neuro-Behcet's disease and treated him by high dose intravenous corticosteroids. This treatment improved his symptoms and MRI lesions, and decreased the CSF IL-6 levels initially. On 13th day after the first his discharge, however, dysarthria appeared and the CSF IL-6 levels elevated again. In addition to the high dose intravenous corticosteroids therapy for acute attack, 15 mg/week of methotrexate was started to prevent the recurrence. Even with this prevention, meningitis related to neuro-Behcet's disease occurred within six weeks. We administered 5 mg/kg of infliximab intravenously at 0, 2, 6, and 14 weeks. After the infliximab treatment, his symptoms improved and the IL-6 levels decreased, and no recurrence has occurred. This case supports that infliximab, anti-TNF-α agent, is a good candidate for neuro-Behcet's disease treatment when it is resistant to conventional immunosuppressive agents such as corticosteroids or methotrexate.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (546K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 51: 261|266, 2011)
key words: Neuro-Behcet's disease, uveitis, infliximab, IL-6, TNF-α

(Received: 21-Oct-10)