 THURSDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) may be helpful in treating some cases of advanced diabetic macular edema (DME), according to research published in the November issue of Ophthalmology.
Mark C. Gillies, Ph.D., of the University of Sydney in Australia, and colleagues analyzed data from patients with DME who were randomized to receive IVTA or placebo. After two years, all eyes were treated with IVTA according to study guidelines, and the authors presented the five-year results. The main outcome measures included improvement of the best-corrected logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity by at least five letters compared with baseline and two years.
The researchers found that, in the group initially receiving treatment, 42 percent of eyes had gained five or more letters after five years compared to 32 percent of eyes in the group initially given placebo, though this was not found to be statistically significant. The number of eyes needing ongoing treatment with laser and IVTA starting at the third year were similar in the groups treated initially with IVTA or placebo, suggesting that treatment for two years does not reduce the risk of recurrent edema.
"In conclusion, this study suggests that the beneficial effect of IVTA in eyes with DME persists for up to five years in most eyes without a large increase in steroid-related adverse events," the authors write. "We believe that treatment with IVTA may still be considered in carefully selected cases of impaired vision caused by advanced DME that is not responding to other interventions."
The lead author of the study reported patents for triamcinolone for ocular use.
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