A Major Review: Current Aspects of Ocular Behçet's Disease in Japan

Abstract

Diagnosis and treatment of Behçet's disease (BD) have continued to undergo new changes in recent years. We organized a Compilation Committee for Guidelines on Diagnosis and Treatment of Ocular Behçet's Disease with five ophthalmology research facilities in Japan (Hokkaido University, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, University of Tokyo, Tokyo Medical University, and Yokohama City University), and accomplished the Major review of Current aspects of Ocular Behçet's Disease in Japan. The review consist of four chapters: introduction, ocular lesions, diagnosis, and treatment. We are very pleased if the guidelines are found to be effective and useful in improving the quality of life (QOL) and quality of vision (QOV) of BD patients in the world.

Ocular Manifestations of Behçet’s Disease

“…It may be the only sign of persistent inflammation in the posterior segment during clinically inactive periods. These findings have a high diagnostic value in BD [13,19].…”

“…The inflammatory response in the anterior chamber is of non-granulomatous nature. Although ocular BD is characterized by explosive acute hypopyon uveitis, a more common presentation is iridocyclitis without hypopyon, which is seen in two-thirds of the cases [17,19].…”

Predictive factors for work‐day loss in Behçet's syndrome: A multi‐center study

“…Prevention of visual loss, improvement of visual outcomes and decrease in flares of uveitis are the main treatment goals with IS and biologics. Yet, loss of visual acuity could be seen in spite of aggressive therapy protocols . Although limited information is available for work limitation in BS, weekly working hours is found to be lower in patients with ocular involvement in our previous study …”

“…A severe disease course is commonly seen in males and treated with immunosuppressive medications (IS) . Occurrence of unpredictable relapses and life‐threatening conditions are crucial components of the disease pattern; workplace problems could be seen in patients with severe organ involvement, especially young males . Since workplace problems are thought to be an indicator to modify treatment protocols of employed patients for physicians, the evaluation of employment life of BS patients is critical in disease management .…”

“…17,18 Occurrence of unpredictable relapses and life-threatening conditions are crucial components of the disease pattern; workplace problems could be seen in patients with severe organ involvement, especially young males. 9,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Since workplace problems are thought to be an indicator to modify treatment protocols of employed patients for physicians, the evaluation of employment life of BS patients is critical in disease management. 2,24,25 In this perspective, the mean sick leave days or disabled days as workdays lost for the last year were reported as 173 ± 79 for neurological involvement, 134 ± 87 for ocular involvement and 75 ± 100 for vascular involvement in BS in a previous study.…”