Photo Credit: Dima Berlin

The following is a summary of “Short-term effect of intravitreal dexamethasone implant in refractory diabetic macular edema,” published in the March 2024 issue of Ophthalmology by Moreno et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the immediate impact of intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI) on diabetic macular edema (DME) unresponsive to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. IDI is a treatment method that involves the insertion of a biodegradable implant containing dexamethasone, a potent corticosteroid, into the eye’s vitreous cavity. This implant slowly releases the medication, providing a sustained therapeutic effect.

They conducted a prospective, single-arm, interventional clinical series involving eyes afflicted with DME and having received 3–9 ranibizumab injections with poor response. These eyes underwent a single IDI. Baseline assessments included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), complete ophthalmic evaluation, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Follow-up evaluations were conducted at 2 hours, 3 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, and 1 month post-IDI. The primary outcomes were changes observed in central retinal thickness (CRT) on SD-OCT and BCVA.

The results demonstrated that mean CRT decreased post-treatment, from 515.87 µm ± 220.00 µm at baseline to 489.60 µm ± 176.53 µm after 2 hours (P=0.126) and to 450.13 µm ± 163.43 µm at 24 hours (P=0.006). Changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were observed from 0.85 ± 0.44 logMAR at baseline to 0.58 ± 0.37 log MAR at 1 month (P=0.003).

Investigators concluded that IDI treatment rapidly reduced CRT in eyes, with noticeable improvement within hours for some patients. These promising results could potentially lead to a new era in the treatment of DME, offering a more effective and immediate solution for patients who are unresponsive to current therapies.

Source: bmcophthalmol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12886-024-03341-9