Abstract
Behçet’s disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis affecting prominently the veins, which is usually diagnosed in adulthood, but can occur in children younger than 16 years in about 4–26% of cases. The therapy is based on several immune-suppressive drugs; in case of inadequate control and/or complications, the biologic therapy with anti-TNF drugs has been successfully used in adults. Here, we reported one pediatric case of BD with systemic (persistent/recurrent high fever), skin and mucosal manifestations (recurrent aphthous stomatitis, anal/penile ulcers, erythema nodosum and papulo-pustules), that were unresponsive to the conventional treatment with steroids and colchicine; however, he was successfully treated with adalimumab. Compared to adult patients, the experience with adalimumab in the treatment of pediatric BD is very limited. Indeed, through a systematic search in the medical literature, we retrieved 4 case reports and 2 case series, describing BD pediatric patients treated with adalimumab, in addition to three clinical studies including some BD children. The analysis and discussion of these available clinical experiences may indicate adalimumab as an effective and safe option to treat several forms of BD, in addition to BD-related chronic uveitis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Seyahi E (2019) Phenotypes in Behçet’s syndrome. Intern Emerg Med. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-019-02046-y (Epub ahead of print)
Borlu M, Uksal U, Ferahbas A, Evereklioglu C (2006) Clinical features of Behcet’s disease in children. Int J Dermatol 45:713–716
Karincaoglu Y, Borlu M, Toker SC et al (2008) Demographic and clinical properties of juvenile-onset Behçet’s disease: a controlled multicenter study. J Am Acad Dermatol 58:579–584
Yazici H, Ugurlu S, Seyahi E (2012) Behçet’s disease, is it one condition? Clinic Rev Allerg Immunol 43:275–280
Koné-Paut I (2016) Behçet’s disease in children, an overview. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J 14:10
Hatemi G, Silman A, Bang D et al (2008) EULAR recommendations for the management of Behçet disease. Ann Rheum Dis 67:1656–1662
Emmi G, Bettiol A, Silvestri E, Di Scala G, Becatti M, Fiorillo C, Prisco D (2018) Vascular Behçet’s syndrome: an update. Intern Emerg Med. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-018-1991-y (Epub ahead of print)
Gasparyan AY, Ayvazyan L, Blackmore H, Kitas GD (2011) Writing a narrative biomedical review: considerations for authors, peer reviewers, and editors. Rheumatol Int 31:1409–1417
Koné-Paut I, Shahram F, Darce-Bello M et al (2016) Consensus classification criteria for paediatric Behçet’s disease from a prospective observational cohort: pEDBD. Ann Rheum Dis 75:958–964
Caso F, Costa L, Rigante D, Lucherini OM et al (2014) Biological treatments in Behçet’s disease: beyond anti-TNF therapy. Mediators Inflamm 2014:107421
Poddighe D, Cavagna L, Brazzelli V, Bruni P, Marseglia GL (2014) A hyper-ferritinemia syndrome evolving in recurrent macrophage activation syndrome, as an onset of amyopathic juvenile dermatomyositis: a challenging clinical case in light of the current diagnostic criteria. Autoimmun Rev 13:1142–1148
Vallet H, Seve P, Biard L et al (2016) Infliximab versus adalimumab in the treatment of refractory inflammatory uveitis: a multicenter study from the French uveitis network. Arthritis Rheumatol 68:1522–1530
Calvo-Río V, Blanco R, Beltrán E et al (2014) Anti-TNF-α therapy in patients with refractory uveitis due to Behçet’s disease: a 1-year follow-up study of 124 patients. Rheumatology (Oxford) 53:2223–2231
Vitale A, Emmi G, Lopalco G et al (2017) Adalimumab effectiveness in Behçet’s disease: short and long-term data from a multicenter retrospective observational study. Clin Rheumatol 36:451–455
Tanida S, Inoue N, Kobayashi K et al (2015) Adalimumab for the treatment of Japanese patients with intestinal Behçet’s disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 13:940–948
Martín-Varillas JL, Calvo-Río V, Beltrán E et al (2018) Successful optimization of adalimumab therapy in refractory uveitis due to Behçet’s disease. Ophthalmology 125:1444–1451
Poddighe D, Romano M, Gattinara M, Gerloni V (2018) Biologics for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Curr Med Chem 25:5860–5893
Gallizzi R, Pidone C, Cantarini L et al (2017) A national cohort study on pediatric Behçet’s disease: cross-sectional data from an Italian registry. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J 15:84
Robinson AB, Gallentine WB, Rabinovich CE (2010) Pediatric neuro-Behçet’s disease responsive to adalimumab. Pediatr Neurol 43:291–293
Interlandi E, Leccese P, Olivieri I, Latanza L (2014) Adalimumab for treatment of severe Behçet’s uveitis: a retrospective long-term follow-up study. Clin Exp Rheumatol 32:S58–S62
Pagnini I, Bondi T, Simonini G, Giani T, Marino A, Cimaz R (2015) Successful treatment with canakinumab of a paediatric patient with resistant Behçet’s disease. Rheumatology (Oxford) 54:1327–1328
Marsili M, Marzetti V, Lucantoni M, Lapergola G, Gattorno M, Chiarelli F, Breda L (2016) Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss as presenting manifestation of paediatric Behçet disease responding to adalimumab: a case report. Ital J Pediatr 42:81
Lim KI, Yang DH, Ryoo E (2017) Behçet’s disease with multiple splenic abscesses in a child. Intest Res 15:422–428
Atienza-Mateo B, Calvo-Río V, Beltrán E et al (2018) Anti-interleukin 6 receptor tocilizumab in refractory uveitis associated with Behçet’s disease: multicentre retrospective study. Rheumatology (Oxford) 57:856–864
Nanthapisal S, Klein NJ, Ambrose N, Eleftheriou D, Brogan PA (2016) Paediatric Behçet’s disease: a UK tertiary centre experience. Clin Rheumatol 35:2509–2516
Simonini G, Taddio A, Cattalini M et al (2013) Superior efficacy of Adalimumab in treating childhood refractory chronic uveitis when used as first biologic modifier drug: adalimumab as starting anti-TNF-α therapy in childhood chronic uveitis. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J 11:16
Deitch I, Amer R, Tomkins-Netzer O, Habot-Wilner Z, Friling R, Neumann R, Kramer M (2018) The effect of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha agents on the outcome in pediatric uveitis of diverse etiologies. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 256:801–808
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
DP conceived and wrote the article, and provided contribution to the clinical management; ZM and MA cooperated in the clinical management and provided important intellectual contributions; KD cooperated in the literature search and patient’s management.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Informed consent
The guardian and the patient provided informed written consent for this publication.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Poddighe, D., Mukusheva, Z., Dauyey, K. et al. Adalimumab in the treatment of pediatric Behçet’s disease: case-based review. Rheumatol Int 39, 1107–1112 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-019-04300-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-019-04300-0