A patient with neuro-Behçetʹs disease is successfully treated with etanercept: Further evidence for the value of TNFα blockade

Behçetʹs disease is a chronic relapsing multisystem vasculitis with 49% of cases involving the CNS. Recently there have been two reports of neuro-Behçetʹs disease (NB) successfully treated with the tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) monoclonal antibody infliximab. We describe a patient with longstanding NB who was poorly responsive to azathioprine, cyclosporin, thalidomide and methotrexate. She showed a remarkable response when treated with the recombinant human TNFα receptor protein, etanercept. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of NB successfully treated with etanercept.