Effect of intravitreal triamcinolone in diabetic macular edema unresponsive to intravitreal bevacizumab

To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone injection in diabetic macular edema unresponsive to intravitreal bevacizumab.

Patients with diabetic macular edema unresponsive to at least three monthly intravitreal bevacizumabs were included. At least 2 months after the last intravitreal bevacizumab, intravitreal triamcinolone was performed after obtaining an aqueous humor sample. Multiplex cytokine array was used to assay vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-α, and transforming growth factor-β2. Best-corrected visual acuity and central subfield thickness were evaluated from Month 0 to 3.

Twenty eyes were enrolled. The mean best-corrected visual acuity was 47.1 ± 18.9 letters at baseline, and significantly increased to 53.3 ± 19.7 letters at 1 month (P = 0.002) and 52.4 ± 19.1 letters at 2 months (P = 0.041). These visual gains were not sustained at 3 months (50.9 ± 18.6; P = 0.204). A decrease in central subfield thickness more than 11% of baseline occurred in 12 eyes at 1 month. Multivariate analysis showed that intraocular levels of IL-8 (β = 0.538 P = 0.006) was an independent factor for anatomic response at 1 month.

Intravitreal triamcinolone has a role in patients who are unresponsive to intravitreal bevacizumab over the short-term. Elevated intraocular IL-8 levels were related to the efficacy.