Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the effects of intravitreal dexamethasone (DEX) 0.7 mg implant (Ozurdex®; Allergan, Inc., Irvine, CA) for the treatment of persistent uveitic macular edema (ME)
Methods: :
Medical records of 16 patients (23 eyes) with persistent (>or= 90 days) uveitic ME treated with intravitreal DEX 0.7 mg implant were reviewed. Complete ophthalmic examination including visual acuity, fundus biomicroscopy, fundus photography, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (Cirrus HD-OCT,Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) was performed at baseline and follow-up .Main outcome measures were improvement of central retinal thickness (CRT) measured with optical coherence tomography and changes in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Tolerability of the implant was assessed.
Results: :
At a mean postoperative follow-up of 5.3 months,central retinal thickness on optical coherence tomography exams decreased significatively (p < 0.001) at one month and three month examination.At day 60, a 10-letter or more BCVA improvement was seen in 60.86% (14/23) of eyes.A 15-letter or more mprovement was achieved in 34,78% (8/23) of eyes.ME relapsed in 21.7% (5/23) and an additional intravitreal injection of DEX 0.7 mg implant was performed. The implant was well tolerated. Throughout the study, an increase in intraocular pressure of 10 mm Hg or more was seen in 26,08 % (6/23) of eyes. There were no cases of endophthalmitis. At the time of intravitreal injection, 17 eyes (73.9%) were vitrectomized and 6 were non-vitrectomized (26.1%)
Conclusions: :
Intravitreal DEX 0.7 mg implant seems to be a safe and effective for treatment of persistent uveitic ME .Our results suggest that efficacy of the implant in vitrectomized eyes with uveitic ME.
Keywords: edema • macula/fovea • uveitis-clinical/animal model