Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Therapy and Recurrent Acute Anterior Uveitis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy in the prevention of recurrences of uveitis in patients with recurrent nongranulomatous, idiopathic, or HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis (AAU). METHODS: Retrospective case series of 59 patients with recurrent AAU treated with celecoxib or diflunisal. RESULTS: The average duration of NSAID therapy was 21.2 +/- 5.7 months. The average number of relapses for all patients prior to systemic NSAID therapy was 2.84 per person-year follow-up. These relapses declined to 0.53 per person-year follow-up with NSAID therapy (p < .001). The relapse rates prior to and after treatment in the HLA-B27-positive group (n = 21) were compared with the relapse rates prior to and after treatment in the HLA-B27-negative group (n = 38) and were also statistically significant (p < .001). CONCLUSION: Morbid attacks and the cumulative exposure to corticosteroids can be prevented with systemic NSAID therapy in patients with recurrent AAU.