Triamcinolone found effective for DME patients unresponsive to bevacizumab

A study found intravitreal triamcinolone has a role in patients with diabetic macular edema who are unresponsive to intravitreal bevacizumab over the short term.

The study, published in the Journal of Retina and Vitreous Diseases, involved 20 patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) who did not respond to treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab.

The study explained that a comprehensive ocular exam including ETDRS best-corrected visual acuity, IOP measurement, slit-lamp exams, color fundus photography, macular cube 512 x 128 scan by spectral domain optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography were performed before intravitreal triamcinolone.

The mean age was 60.8 years ± 6.7 years and the mean duration of diabetes was 13.2 ± 8.9 years, according to the study.

Researchers said the study showed beneficial effects of intravitreal triamcinolone on DME unresponsive to bevacizumab administered three times monthly for at least 2 months. It was found that the triamcinolone resulted in a mean reduction in central subfield thickness of 28% at 1 month in 12 of 20 eyes. The efficacy was associated with raised levels of aqueous interleukin-8, which stress the role of suppression of inflammatory mediators in addition to VEGF in these patients.

The study named a few limitations such as few patients and a short follow-up period.

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Source:

Jeon S, et al. Retina. 2014;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24553409