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Background: To compare the patients' and physician's global assessment of disease activity in Behçet's syndrome (BS) and investigate the frequency, magnitude, and determinants of potential discordance., Methods: A total of 226 adult BS patients with a median (IQR) age of 46.9 (35.6-55.2) years were enrolled across Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Demographic, clinical, and therapeutic variables, as well as the patient reported outcomes, were collected at the recruitment visit. The physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component summary scores of the Short Form Questionnaire 36 (SF-36) and the Behçet's syndrome Overall Damage Index (BODI) were calculated. Disease activity was assessed by the patients' (PtGA) and physician's global assessment (PGA) in a 10-cm visual analog scale, as well as the Behçet Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF). Discordance (∆) was calculated by subtracting the PGA from the PtGA and defined as positive (PtGA>PGA) and negative (PtGA 80%) of disagreements were due to patients rating higher their disease activity. Higher values of BDCAF were associated to increased rate of positive discordance. When BDCAF = 0, the median (IQR) values of PtGA and PGA were 0.2 (0-2) and 0 (0-1), respectively. PCS (adjusted odds ratio (adjOR) 0.96 per unit, 95% CI 0.93-0.98, p = 0.006) and MCS (adjOR 0.96 per unit, 95% CI 0.93-0.99, p = 0.003) were independently associated with positive discordance using both cutoffs. Active ocular involvement emerged as a potential determinant of negative discordance (adjOR 5.88, 95% CI 1.48-23.30, p = 0.012)., Conclusions: PtGA and PGA should be considered as complementary measures in BS, as patients and physicians may be influenced by different factors when assessing active disease manifestations. Particularly, PtGA may be a useful tool in the assessment of BS disease activity, as it carries a low risk to misclassify an inactive disease, and may allow to capture aspects of the patient's health that negatively affect his well-being and the treatment.

Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a multisystemic disorder displaying a marked variability across different geographic areas. The main aim of this study was to analyze demographic and clinical features of a cohort of BS patients diagnosed in three tertiary referral centers in Italy and detect potential associations between the different manifestations. Medical records of 396 patients (218 females, 178 males) were retrospectively analyzed. Mean age at onset was 30.00 ± 18.75 years with a female-to-male ratio of 1.22:1. Mucocutaneous features were the most frequent starting manifestations of BS, followed by eye inflammation. Erythema nodosum (p = 0.007), arthritis/arthralgias (p = 0.0115), and central nervous system (CNS) signs (p = 0.014) were significantly over-represented in female patients, whereas male gender was associated with lower mean age at onset (p = 0.031), higher frequency of pseudofollicular lesions, and uveitis (p = 0.00134 and p < 0.0001 respectively), particularly for posterior segment involvement and panuveitis (p < 0.0001). Regarding the association between disease features, genital ulcers were negatively associated with uveitis (p < 0.0001) and vascular involvement (p < 0.0001). Other negative associations were detected between uveitis and gastrointestinal involvement (p = 0.008), pseudofolliculitis and CNS signs (p = 0.031), vascular involvement (p = 0.002) and erythema nodosum (p = 0.013). Logistic regression identified male gender and genital ulcers, respectively, with a higher (OR 2.199 [1.397-3.461], p < 0.001) and lower risk (OR 0.157 [0.090-0.273], p < 0.0001) of developing major organ involvement. Our evaluations found that the disease had started mostly in the second and third decade with most severe features in the male gender, and that patients presenting with mucocutaneous manifestations were less prone to develop major organ involvement.

The aim of the present study was to compare long-term adalimumab (ADA) and infliximab (IFX) retention rates in patients with intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis. Additional aims are as follows: (i) to identify any difference in the causes of treatment discontinuation between patients treated with ADA and IFX; (ii) to assess any impact of demographic features, concomitant treatments, and different lines of biologic therapy on ADA and IFX retention rates; and (iii) to identify any correlation between ADA and IFX treatment duration and the age at uveitis onset, the age at onset of the associated systemic diseases, and the age at the start of treatment. Clinical, therapeutic, and demographic data from patients with non-infectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis treated with ADA or IFX were retrospectively collected. Kaplan-Meier plot and log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test were used to assess survival curves. One hundred eight patients (188 eyes) were enrolled; in 87 (80.6%) patients, uveitis was associated with a systemic disease. ADA and IFX were administered in 62 and 46 patients, respectively. No statistically significant differences were identified between ADA and IFX retention rates (p value = 0.22). Similarly, no differences were identified between ADA and IFX retention rates in relation to gender (p value = 0.61 for males, p value = 0.09 for females), monotherapy (p value = 0.08), combination therapy with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (log-rank p value = 0.63), and different lines of biologic therapy (p value = 0.79 for biologic-naïve patients; p value = 0.81 for subjects previously treated with other biologics). In conclusion, ADA and IFX have similar long-term retention rates in patients with non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis. Demographic, clinical, and therapeutic features do not affect their long-term effectiveness.

Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of non-infectious uveitis (NIU) in two tertiary referral rheumatology units in Central and Southern Italy., Methods: Two hundred and seventy-eight consecutive NIU patients (417 eyes) evaluated between January 2016 and January 2017 were enrolled. Collected data were analysed in accordance with the primary anatomic site of inflammation, clinical course, and laterality., Results: The mean age at NIU onset was 36.92±18.30 years with a female-to-male ratio of 1.34:1. Anterior uveitis (AU) was identified in 151 (54.32%), posterior uveitis (PU) in 67 (24.10%), intermediate uveitis (IU) in 5.40% and panuveitis (PanU) in 16.19% patients. Bilateral involvement was identified in 50% of our cohort. Uveitis was acute in 33.81% of patients, while 24.46% and 41.73% had a chronic and recurrent course, respectively. Gender and laterality did not influence the anatomical pattern, while disease course was significantly more acute or chronic in AU (p<0.05) and chronic in IU (p<0.05). An associated systemic disease was identified in 116 patients (41.73%). Twenty-seven patients (9.7%) had a specific isolated eye disease, 135 patients (48.56%) had idiopathic NIU. Uveitis associated with a systemic disease was significantly bilateral (p=0.01) and acute or chronic (p<0.0001), while the isolated form showed an association with chronic course (p<0.0001) and unilaterality (p=0.01)., Conclusions: The most common anatomic pattern of NIU has been AU, followed by PU, PanU and IU. A systemic disease (mainly Behçet's disease, ankylosing spondylitis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis) has been recognised in a fair proportion of the entire cohort. The rheumatologist should remain a central professional figure in the multidisciplinary team dealing with intraocular inflammation on a daily basis.

Background: Clinical research is needed to identify patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) who are more likely to be responsive to interleukin (IL)-17 inhibition., Objectives: To evaluate short-term efficacy of secukinumab in the management of axSpA., Methods: Twenty-one patients (7 males, 14 females) with axSpA were consecutively treated with secukinumab. Laboratory and clinical assessments were based on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS)-CRP, and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI). Data were recorded at baseline and at a 3 month follow-up visit., Results: The study was comprised of 21 patients. Both BASDAI and ASDAS-CRP showed a statistically significant reduction between the baseline and the 3 month visit (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0005, respectively). During the laboratory assessment, ESR showed a significant decrease (P = 0.008) while CRP improvement did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.213). No statistical significance was observed between patients treated with secukinumab 150 mg vs. 300 mg in BASDAI (P=0.99), ASDAS-CRP (P = 0.69), ESR (P = 0.54), and CRP (P = 0.56). No significant differences emerged between the BASDAI (P = 0.15), ASDAS-CRP (P = 0.09), and CRP (P = 0.15) rates in biologic-naïve patients and those previously failing tumor necrosis factor-α inhibition. Conversely, ESR decrease was significantly higher in the biologic-naïve subgroup (P = 0.01). No adverse events were reported., Conclusions: Secukinumab has proven remarkable short-term effectiveness, regardless of the biologic treatment line. A dosage of 150 mg proved to be appropriate in the clinical and laboratory management of axSpA.