Efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in long standing diabetic macular edema: a microperimetry and...

To investigate the efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in patients suffering from diffuse long standing diabetic macular edema, by the assessment of retinal thickness and retinal function by means of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and microperimetry-1.

Twenty eyes received 8 mg in 0.2 mL preservative free intravitreal triamcinolone injection delivered through the pars plana. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), foveal thickness, and the average retinal sensitivity of the 45 stimuli were considered in our study. Patients were instructed to attend for OCT and microperimetry-1 follow-up at baseline, 1, 3, and 6.

At the baseline, mean macular thickness was 692 micro +/- 70 micro; mean visual acuity was 0.13 +/- 0.09. Mean macular sensitivity determined with the microperimetry-1 was 6.85 dB +/- 2.1 dB. At the 1 month follow-up, mean OCT macular thickness decreased to 348.28 micro +/- 132.10 micro (P = 0.0001); mean BCVA improved to 0.23 +/- 0.15 (P = 0.019); mean retinal sensitivity improved to 8.71 dB +/- 2.79 dB (P = 0.03). At the 3 months follow-up, mean OCT macular thickness changed to 363.7 micro +/- 123.52 micro (P = 0.0002); mean BCVA was 0.23 +/- 0.15 (P = 0.0024); mean retinal sensitivity 8.54 dB +/- 2.78 dB (P = 0.048). Six months after the injection, mean OCT macular thickness was 460.61 micro +/- 104.9 micro (P > 0.05); mean BCVA was 0.15 (P > 0.05); mean retinal sensitivity 7.54 dB +/- 2.58 dB (P > 0.05).

In our study, we found intravitreal effective in improving BCVA, macular thickness, and retinal sensitivities during the first 3 months. At 6 months, follow-up of the data were not dissimilar to those obtained at baseline. Further investigation is warranted to asses the correlation among daily life visual performance, retinal sensitivities, and macular thickness.