Plasma exchange in the therapy of Behçet's disease.

Present therapies for Behçet's disease are unsatisfactory in many cases. We investigated the role of plasma exchange in four patients with severe Behçet's retinitis who were unresponsive to standard medical therapies. Plasma exchange induced a rapid reduction of ocular inflammation with improved visual acuity in all cases. In patients with severe Behçet's retinitis, plasma exchange is able to interrupt the acute inflammatory activity, but relapses may occur.