title: Vision Preservation in Eyes of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy with Low-Dose Intravitreal Triamcinolone Acetonide.
abstract: To evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects of using low-dose intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) to preserve vision in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) eyes.
  
  
  
  This retrospective chart review study examined 8 eyes of 7 PCV patients, for whom verteporfin photodynamic therapy (vPDT) or antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy was not affordable/available and also with intolerable risk because of underlying cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular ischemia. Low-dose IVTA (1 mg/0.025 mL) monotherapy was administered and repeated every 4 weeks if intraretinal edema or subretinal fluid persisted.
  
  
  
  The median follow-up time was 26.4 months. Three eyes (3/8) maintained their initial best-corrected visual acuity and 4 eyes (4/8) exhibited improvement, whereas 1 eye (1/8) sustained some loss. The mean injection number per month was 0.7 for the first 6 months, after which it decreased to 0.4. In regard to adverse effects, intraocular pressure (IOP) of more than 21 mmHg was noted as persisting for a few weeks in 4 eyes and that of more than 30 mmHg was noted once in 1 eye. The increased IOP was adequately controlled by using IOP-lowering agents. Two initially phakic eyes each underwent cataract surgery in the 12th and 14th months after treatment.
  
  
  
  Low-dose IVTA therapy may be valuable for preserving the vision of PCV patients, while vPDT or anti-VEGF is not affordable/available or of those with underlying diseases for whom anti-VEGF therapy is with intolerable risk.
authors.affiliation: 1 Cathay General Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .|2 Fu-Jen University, New Taipei City, Taiwan .
authors.forename: I-Chia
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: 1 Cathay General Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .|3 Taiwan Adventist Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Yi-Ru
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 1 Cathay General Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Hsiang-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: 1 Cathay General Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .|3 Taiwan Adventist Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .|4 National Taiwan University Hospital , Taipei, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Kwan-Rong
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide
keywords: adjunctive therapy; polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy; triamcinolone acetonide