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¹Dumlupınar Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Göz Hastalıkları A.D., Kütahya, Yard. Doç. Dr.
²Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Göz Hastalıkları A.D., Aydın, Prof. Dr.
³Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Göz Hastalıkları A.D., Aydın, Doç. Dr. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and complications of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) injection in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).
Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight eyes of 26 DME patients who were resistant to laser photocoagulation treatment were enrolled in the study. Triamcinolone acetonide (TA) was injected intravitreally under topical anesthesia. The patients were evaluated at the first week, and the first, third and sixth months, in terms of visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressure (IOP), presence of TA crystals in vitreous, and regression of macular edema and hard exudates in the fundus photographs and fundus fluorescein angiography.
Results: The VA of the patients were 1.31±0.44 LogMAR unit before injection and improved significantly at the first week and the first and third months while there was no difference the sixth month (1.15±0.46, 1.01±0.51, 1.01±0.50, and 1.07±0.56 LogMAR units respectively). The IOP of the patients were 14.25±3.35 mmHg before injection and increased significantly at the first week and the first and third months while there was no difference the sixth month (16.07±4.27, 16.82±3.73, 17.32±6.08, and 15.35±3.15 mmHg respectively). Regression of macular edema in fundus fluorescein angiography detected in 22 (79%), 16 (57%), and 8 (31%) eyes the first, third, and sixth months respectively. TA crystals were observed in the vitreous in 26 (93%), 11 (39%), and 2 (8%) eyes the first, third and sixth months respectively. The hard exudates were regressed in 15 of 19 eyes (79%) end of the six months. One eye exhibited cataract progression.
Conclusion: IVTA injection in the treatment of refractory DME was found to be effective especially for 3 months. Keywords : Diabetic macular edema, hard exudate, triamcinolone acetonide