- Sura, Amol;
- Sun, Yuwei;
- Reddy, Amit;
- Rathinam, S;
- Gonzales, John;
- Thundikandy, Radhika;
- Vedhanayaki, Rajesh;
- Kanakath, Anuradha;
- Murugan, Bala;
- Doan, Thuy;
- Lim, Lyndell;
- Suhler, Eric;
- Al-Dhibi, Hassan;
- Acharya, Nisha
PURPOSE: Some patients taking methotrexate (MTX) or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) experience intolerable side effects at full doses. We evaluated whether dose reduction affected treatment outcomes in uveitis patients. METHODS: Subanalysis of the First-line Antimetabolites as Steroid-sparing Treatment (FAST) uveitis trial. Patients were randomized to receive MTX (25 mg weekly) or MMF (3 g daily). A pre-specified dose reduction protocol could be employed for intolerable side effects. Primary analysis was performed at 6 months. RESULTS: 43/194 patients (22%) required dose reduction. 88/151 patients (58%) on maximum doses and 32/43 patients (74%) on reduced doses were deemed treatment successes at 6 months. The odds ratio point estimate (1.60, 95% CI 0.72-3.74) favored dose-reduction but this was not significant. Following reduction, adverse events improved at the subsequent study visit (79 events reduced to 63 events). CONCLUSION: Dose reduction of antimetabolites was not associated with worse outcomes in this subanalysis of a uveitis trial.