Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for patients with macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion

Abstract

We designed a case series study to evaluate the outcome of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). The prospective comparative nonrandomized clinical interventional study included 27 patients (27 eyes) with macular edema due to BRVO. The study group consisted of 16 patients who had accepted an intravitreal injection (IVI) of 4 mg triamcinolone acetonide. The control group included 11 patients without IVI of triamcinolone acetonide. The mean follow-up was 103.00 +/- 36.24 days in the study group and 94.55 +/- 36.31 days in the control group. In the study group, visual acuity measurements improved significantly (p < 0.001) from 0.77 +/- 0.43 logarithm of minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) preoperatively to a best postoperative visual acuity of 0.44 +/- 0.43 logMAR. Fourteen eyes (87.5%) gained improvement in visual acuity, with 10 eyes (62.5%) showing an increase in visual acuity of at least two Snellen lines. All 16 patients showed significant macular edema resolution in optical coherence tomography examination (p < 0.001) and perivascular leakage decrease in fluorescein angiography post-IVI. In the control group, baseline best-corrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity during the follow-up did not vary significantly (p = 0.294). In conclusion, IVI of triamcinolone acetonide can lead to an increase in visual acuity and a resolution of macular edema in patients with BRVO.