title: Relation between reduction of foveal thickness and visual acuity in diabetic macular edema treated with intravitreal triamcinolone.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the correlation between improvement in visual acuity and the reduction of foveal thickness after a single intravitreal injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone in diabetic macular edema.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, interventional, nonrandomized clinical trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective study 24 eyes with diabetic macular edema were treated with an intravitreal injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone acetonide.
  
  
  METHODS
  Best-corrected logMAR visual acuity and optical coherence tomography were performed at baseline and 3 months after the treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline the average foveal thickness was 462 +/- 154 microm (95% confidence interval, 397-527 microm) and at 3 months 257 +/-114 microm (95% confidence interval, 209-305 microm) (P < .0001). The best-corrected logMAR average visual acuity was 60.5 +/- 10.5 (95% confidence interval, 56.0-65.0) ETDRS letters at baseline compared with 65.5 +/- 11.1 (95% confidence interval, 60.8-70.1) 3 months after the injection (P = .0001). There was no correlation between the improvement in visual acuity and the reduction of foveal thickness (r = 0.054, P = .8), but there was a correlation between reduction in foveal thickness and the age of the patients (r = 0.53, P = .008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single injection of 4 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide effectively reduces the foveal thickness in diabetic macular edema and improves visual acuity, but there does not appear to be a strong correlation between the reduction of foveal thickness and the improvement in visual acuity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, GPO Box 4337, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia. jorgen@eye.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Jörgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Meidong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sutter
authors.forename: Mark C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gillies
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D014822:Vitreous Body
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide