American Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume 139, Issue 5 , Pages 802-806, May 2005

Relation Between Reduction of Foveal Thickness and Visual Acuity in Diabetic Macular Edema Treated With Intravitreal Triamcinolone

  • Jörgen Larsson, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
    • Department of Ophthalmology, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
    • Corresponding Author InformationInquiries to Jorgen Larsson, MD, PhD, Save Sight Institute, GPO Box 4337, Sydney NSW 2001, Australia; fax: 02 93827318
    • ,
  • Meidong Zhu, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
    • ,
  • Florian Sutter, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
    • ,
  • Mark C. Gillies, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Accepted 20 December 2004. published online 24 March 2005.

Purpose

To evaluate the correlation between improvement in visual acuity and the reduction of foveal thickness after a single intravitreal injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone in diabetic macular edema.

Design

Prospective, interventional, nonrandomized clinical trial.

Method

patients In a prospective study 24 eyes with diabetic macular edema were treated with an intravitreal injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone acetonide. main outcome measures: Best-corrected logMAR visual acuity and optical coherence tomography were performed at baseline and 3 months after the treatment.

Results

At baseline the average foveal thickness was 462 ± 154 μm (95% confidence interval, 397–527 μm) and at 3 months 257 ±114 μm (95% confidence interval, 209–305 μm) (P < .0001). The best-corrected logMAR average visual acuity was 60.5 ± 10.5 (95% confidence interval, 56.0–65.0) ETDRS letters at baseline compared with 65.5 ± 11.1 (95% confidence interval, 60.8–70.1) 3 months after the injection (P = .0001). There was no correlation between the improvement in visual acuity and the reduction of foveal thickness (r = 0.054, P = .8), but there was a correlation between reduction in foveal thickness and the age of the patients (r = 0.53, P = .008).

Conclusion

A single injection of 4 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide effectively reduces the foveal thickness in diabetic macular edema and improves visual acuity, but there does not appear to be a strong correlation between the reduction of foveal thickness and the improvement in visual acuity.

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

PII: S0002-9394(04)01597-1

doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2004.12.054

American Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume 139, Issue 5 , Pages 802-806, May 2005

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution