Anti–Interleukin‐6 Receptor Tocilizumab for Severe Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis–Associated Uveitis Refractory to Anti–Tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy: A Multicenter Study of Twenty‐Five Patients

Objective To assess the efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ) for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)–associated uveitis. Methods We conducted a multicenter study of patients with JIA‐associated uveitis that was refractory to conventional immunosuppressive drugs and anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti‐TNF) agents. Results We assessed 25 patients (21 female; 47 affected eyes) with a mean ± SD age of 18.5 ± 8.3 years. Uveitis was bilateral in 22 patients. Cystoid macular edema was present in 9 patients. Ocular sequelae found at initiation of TCZ included cataracts (n = 13), glaucoma (n = 7), synechiae (n = 10), band keratopathy (n = 12), maculopathy (n = 9), and amblyopia (n = 5). Before TCZ, patients had received corticosteroids, conventional immunosuppressive drugs, and biologic agents (median 2 [range 1–5]), including adalimumab (n = 24), etanercept (n = 8), infliximab (n = 7), abatacept (n = 6), rituximab (n = 2), anakinra (n = 1), and golimumab (n = 1). Patients received 8 mg/kg TCZ intravenously every 4 weeks in most cases. TCZ yielded rapid and maintained improvement in all ocular parameters. After 6 months of therapy, 79.2% of patients showed improvement in anterior chamber cell numbers, and 88.2% showed improvement after 1 year. Central macular thickness measured by optical coherence tomography in patients with cystoid macular edema decreased from a mean ± SD of 401.7 ± 86.8 μm to 259.1 ± 39.5 μm after 6 months of TCZ (P = 0.012). The best‐corrected visual acuity increased from 0.56 ± 0.35 to 0.64 ± 0.32 (P