Tomographic assessment of therapeutic response to uveitic macular oedema

To evaluate the therapeutic effects on the different morphological patterns of uveitic macular oedema and central macular thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Retrospective observational case series. Fifty consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of new or recurrent macular oedema due to uveitis were examined with serial OCTs for 1 year. The correlation between different patterns of macular oedema (diffuse macular oedema, inner cystoid oedema, outer cystoid oedema, oedema involving both inner and outer layers of retina and serous retinal detachment) and change in logMAR visual acuity and the recorded variables including age, gender, systemic disease associated with uveitis, location and duration of uveitis, and duration of macular oedema were examined. Response to treatment was measured as change in logMAR visual acuity and evolution of patterns of macular oedema.

Diffuse macular oedema, external cystoid and serous retinal detachment responded well to treatment. Cysts in the inner retinal layers were more resistant to treatment. The cysts in the outer layers disappeared faster than cysts in the inner layers in patients with cysts in both layers at baseline. Multivariate analysis showed that cystoid macular oedema (all types) (P = 0.03) and inner cystoid oedema (P = 0.031) were the variables significantly associated with final visual acuity.

Assessment of patterns of uveitic macular oedema by OCT gives useful information on the prognosis. Inner retinal cystoid oedema is more resistant to treatment than any other patterns of oedema.