Abstract
Purpose :
The aim of this study is to present the clinical outcomes of patients with macular edema treated with repeated Dexamethasone 0.7 mg (DEX) implants after failure with Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy.
Methods :
Patients (n=5) from an ophthalmology clinic consecutively treated with DEX implants for macular edema (ME) from all etiologies were retrospectively evaluated. Demographic data, LogMar and Snellen visual acuity (VA) and central macular thickness (CMT) calculated by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDO-OCT) were subjected to statistical analysis.
Results :
A total of 6 eyes with an average age of 67 years of age with a mean follow up period of of 78 weeks. Sixty-six percent were diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion (RVO), while the other 33% were with posterior uveitis. A mean of 5 anti-VEGF injections were administered before initiating DEX implant therapy. While in the anti-VEGF therapy phase mean VA worsened while CMT increased. Mean respective values were 0.84 +/- 0.36 LogMar scale (20/139 +/- 20/45) and 562 +/-261 at intervention of anti-VEGF therapy; while in the DEX implants therapy mean VA was 0.40 +/- 0.32 LogMar scale (20/50 +/- 20/45) and CMT 381 +/-118.
Conclusions :
This study shows that the used of consecutive DEX implants is safe and effective, specially for refractory macular edema previously treated with anti-VEGF therapy.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.