Abstract
Purpose :
ILUVIEN® implant provides a sustained, controlled microdose (0.2 μg per day) of FAc for up to 3 years. The aim of this retrospective, multi-center analysis was to investigate the visual and anatomical outcomes of eyes with DME that were treated with ILUVIEN® at 4 ophthalmic units in Portugal.
Methods :
A retrospective, case series involving 81 eyes treated with a single intravitreal FAc implant following an insufficient response to prior DME treatment. Eyes were followed-up for 6.6±4.8 months. Outcomes included mean changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; ETDRS letters), and central foveal thickness (CFT). Other efficacy measures included the percentage of patients having a CFT reduction ≥20% and having a ≥10 and ≥15 letter gain in BCVA. Moreover, the percentage of patients achieving driving vision (≥70 letters) was also assessed.
Results :
At baseline, the ratio of pseudophakic-to-phakic eyes was 64-to-17, respectively. All eyes had previously been injected with intravitreal anti-VEGF (mean, 4.6±4.25; range, 0 to 16) and/or steroid (mean, 2.3±1.8; range, 0 to 7). At the last observation point, following the FAc implant, mean BCVA had increased by +8.7±15.4 ETDRS letters (range, -30 to +58 letters) with 31% eyes achieving driving vision (≥70 letters). Mean CFT decreased by 202±179.7 µm (range, -201 to 334 µm). Moreover, 71.6% of patients experienced a reduction in CFT of ≥20% and in 50.7% and 38.3% of eyes, BCVA improved by ≥10 and ≥15 letters, respectively.
Conclusions :
In these real-world ILUVIEN® cases, patients experienced concurrent improvements in visual acuity and CFT 6.6 months after therapy was initiated. These responses were evident in patients that had been heavily injected with anti-VEGF and short-acting steroids prior to receiving an ILUVIEN® implant.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.