Baricitinib for the Treatment of Refractory Vascular Beh?et's Disease

Objective: The pilot study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of baricitinib in Behcet's Disease (BD) patients with refractory vascular involvement.Methods: We consecutively enrolled vascular/cardiac BD patients who received baricitinib (2 mg/day) along with glucocorticoids (GCs) and immunosuppressants in our center. Efficacy assessment mainly depends on the pro-portion of clinical remission and side effects were recorded.Results: 17 patients (12 males) were included with a mean follow-up of 10.7 +/- 5.3 months. At 3 months of follow-up, 76.5% of patients achieved a complete response and the proportion increased to 88.2% at the last visit. During follow-up, ESR (p < 0.01) and hsCRP (p < 0.0001) decreased significantly, as well as Behcet's Disease Current Activity Form score (p < 0.01). In addition, baricitinib showed a GCs-sparing effect. No serious adverse events were noted.Conclusions: Our study suggests that baricitinib is well-tolerated and effective in treating refractory vascular/ cardiac BD patients.