title: Dexamethasone intravitreal implant for treatment of patients with persistent diabetic macular edema.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the 6-month anatomical and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) response after primary intravitreal dexamethasone implantation (Ozurdex®) in patients with refractory diabetic macular edema (DME).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of the medical records of 58 patients with decreased visual acuity, due to refractory DME, who underwent a single injection of Ozurdex between November 2010 and January 2012, at the Instituto de Microcirurgia Ocular, Barcelona, Spain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, the mean foveal thickness (FT) was 543.24 ± 156.51 μm. Mean (±SD) values of FT did decrease to 346.82 ± 123.74 μm at month 1 and 341.12 ± 129.64 μm at month 3. Data on the 6-month follow-up showed a mild increase to 420.16 ± 152.15 μm. All of the FT reduction outcomes were statistically significant, with respect to baseline data (p = 0.0001). The baseline BCVA data was 0.66 ± 0.36 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR). The mean BCVA improved to 0.52 ± 0.32 logMAR (p = 0.0001) and 0.44 ± 0.27 logMAR (p = 0.0001) after 1 and 3 months, respectively. At the last visit (6-month follow-up), the mean BCVA increased to 0.51 ± 0.31 logMAR (p = 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, intravitreal treatment with a dexamethasone implant safely reduced DME and improved visual acuity in a difficult-to-treat patient population with long-standing refractory DME.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microcirugia Ocular, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dutra Medeiros
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Postorino
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Arumí
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mateo
authors.forename: Borja
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corcóstegui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004343:Drug Implants; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D004343:Drug Implants; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003907:Dexamethasone