The successful use of mycophenolate mofetil in a patient with active birdshot chorio-retinopathy refractory to azathioprine therapy - Case report

Report on the effect of oral mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) on the treatment of a patient with active birdshot chorioretinopathy (BC) refractory to azathioprine (AZA) therapy. A sixty-two-year-old female patient with BC developed cystoid macular edema (CME) and severe retinal vasculitis in both eyes. AZA (2 mg/kg/day) was then initially prescribed in order to control the inflammatory process. As AZA failed to control the intraocular inflammation after one year, it was replaced by MMF (2 mg/kg/day), which controlled the inflammatory process and improved the patient's visual acuity. In three years under MMF, no recurrence was observed and her vision remained unchanged. In our patient with active BC refractory to AZA, MMF was effective to decrease the intraocular inflammation, as well as to improve the patient's visual acuity.