Intravitreal preservative-free triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of macular oedema

To report the use of commercially available preservative-free intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of macular oedema due to retinal vascular diseases.

Retrospective interventional case series.

Charts of eyes that received 4 mg preservative-free intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of persistent macular oedema due to retinal vascular diseases were reviewed. Patients were included if they had a follow-up of at least 3 months. Visual acuity, intraocular pressure, presence of an anterior chamber reaction, and mean macular thickness on optical coherence tomography (OCT) were recorded.

A total of 10 eyes of 10 patients were identified. Visual acuity improved by a mean of 1.1 Snellen lines at 1 month and 1.3 lines at 3 months. Macular thickness on OCT decreased by a mean of 183.5 microm at 1 month (P<0.0001). Intraocular pressure increased from a mean of 13.5 mmHg at baseline to 15.3 at 1 month, and 14.5 at 3 months. Only the 1-month change in intraocular pressure was statistically significant (P=0.0274). There were no cases of endophthalmitis, anterior chamber reaction, or retinal detachment.

In this small retrospective, noncomparative series, commercially available preservative-free intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide had no adverse outcomes. Macular oedema was noted to decrease following treatment.