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Title: Intravitreal Injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide Improves Visual Acuity in Patients with Diffuse Diabetic Macular Ooedema: Presented at AAO/PAAO

"Intravitreal Injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide Improves Visual Acuity in Patients with Diffuse Diabetic Macular Ooedema: Presented at AAO/PAAO"

By Anne Jacobson Special to DG News ORLANDO, FL -- October 22, 2002 -- Intravitreal injection of 25 mg triamcinolone acetonide is an effective treatment for clinically significant diffuse diabetic macular oedema, new research suggests. Jost B. Jonas, MD, of the department of ophthalmology and eye hospital at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, in Erlangen, Germany, reported his findings here October 20 at the Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (AAO/PAAO). In this prospective study, Dr. Jonas evaluated 15 patients who received an intravitreal injection of 25 mg triamcinolone acetonide for treatment of diffuse diabetic macular oedema over a mean follow-up time of 5.2 months. Following treatment, visual acuity increased significantly from an average 0.08 at baseline to a maximum of 0.16 (p=0.004) at follow-up. Visual acuity improved by six weeks after treatment to an average 0.13 (p=0.003) and to 0.16 (p=0.018) by six months. Overall, nine eyes (90 percent) observed for at least one month were found to gain visual acuity. According to Dr. Jonas, the 25 mg dose used in this study is significantly higher than the 4 mg dose commonly used in clinical practice. Dr. Jonas says he believes that the frequencies of side effects are similar at the two doses, but that the 25 mg dose results in a much longer duration of effect. "We repeat the injections at four to nine months in all patients who experience an increase in visual acuity with the initial injection," Dr. Jonas told Doctor's Guide. In some patients who receive the 25 mg injection, the resulting increase in visual acuity persists for up to nine months.

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