Relation between reduction of foveal thickness and visual acuity in diabetic macular edema treated with intravitreal triamcinolone.
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.
Larsson
Jörgen
J
Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, GPO Box 4337, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia. jorgen@eye.usyd.edu.au
Zhu
Meidong
M
Sutter
Florian
F
Gillies
Mark C
MC
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
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide