Abstract
Purpose :
Studies have shown that patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) have significantly greater treatment burden than non-DME patients due to frequent total health care visits.[i] Frequent injections and office visits can have a substantial impact on patient adherence and quality of life. This analysis of real-world data assesses the impact of a 0.19 mg fluocinolone acetonide (FAc) implant on treatment burden in patients with DME.
Methods :
This study is a single-center retrospective chart review of 30 eyes (23 patients) that received a single intravitreal injection of 0.19 mg FAc implant (ILUVIEN, Alimera Science Inc., Alpharetta, GA). Data was collected for a 12-month period pre- and post-FAc injection. Primary outcomes included the number of injections and ophthalmology-related office visits. Secondary outcomes included visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressure (IOP) and central sub-field thickness (CSFT) on optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Results :
The injection frequency significantly decreased from one injection every 2.6 months pre-FAc to one injection every 8.8 months post-FAc (P<0.001). 63% of the eyes did not require additional injections post-FAc. The mean number of ophthalmology-related office visits also significantly decreased from 12.7 visits pre-FAc to 9.3 visits post-FAc (P<0.001). At 12 months post-FAc, the mean VA and CSFT showed a mild improvement. In regards to IOP events, 37% of the eyes required additional IOP lowering drops post-FAc. No eyes required an incisional glaucoma surgery post-FAc.
Conclusions :
Our results showed that a single intravitreal injection of 0.19 mg FAc implant significantly decreased the treatment burden while maintaining/improving the VA and the CSFT. Specifically, both the frequency of injections and office visits decreased significantly post-FAc. IOP events were in-line with FAME trial and other real-world data with zero eyes requiring an incisional glaucoma surgery.
[i] Kiss, S., Chandwani, H. S., Cole, A. L., Patel, V. D., Lunacsek, O. E., & Dugel, P. U. (2016, December 07). [Full text] Comorbidity and health care visit burden in working-age commercially i | OPTH. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from https://www.dovepress.com/comorbidity-and-health-care-visit-burden-in-working-age-commercially-i-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OPTH
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.