Intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of refractory diabetic macular edema

ABSTRACT

A prospective descriptive / non-comparative pilot study was used to evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide [TA] for the treatment of patients with refractory diabetic macular edema that had not responded to laser treatment. Forty eyes of 35 patients with visual acuity [VA] anesthesia. Results were assessed and analyzed using changes in visual acuity [VA], retinal thickness [RT] and macular volume measured by optical coherence tomography [OCT]. In 62.85% of cases the VA improved by more than two Snellen's lines, the initial VA /[mean log MAR] being 0.67 changing to 0.31 after six months [p =0.008]. RT improved in all patients, having the most remarkable improvement in the Macular Volume, with a decrease of 2.7 mm3 at the end of the study [p =0.009]. Both improvement of VA and RT were more marked during the early follow-up. The most common complication was ocular hypertension [OHT] in 22.5% of eyes, all of which responded to medical anti-glaucoma treatment. Intravitreal injection of TA looks to be a useful option for the treatment of refractory diabetic macular edema