Follow-up after intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for exudative age-related macular degeneration.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report on the follow-up of patients who received an intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection (IVTA) as treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: The clinical interventional case-series study included 205 patients (222 eyes) with progressive exudative age-related macular degeneration with subfoveal neovascularization who consecutively received an IVTA of about 20 mg as only therapeutic procedure and for whom follow-up was at least 3 months. Mean follow-up was 10.4+/-7.1 months (range, 3-35.7 months). RESULTS: Visual acuity improved significantly (P<0.001) from baseline (0.90+/-0.45 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMar)) to a mean minimum of 0.79+/-0.42 LogMar during follow-up. In 86 (38.7%) eyes and in 55 (24.8%) eyes, best visual acuity increased by at least two and three Snellen lines, respectively. Comparing the measurements at specific postinjection examination dates showed that visual acuity measurements taken at 1, 2, and 3 months after injection were not significantly different from the baseline value. Measurements taken at 6, 9, and 12 months after the injection were significantly (P<0.001) lower than the measurements at baseline. Mean loss at 6 months was 1.4+/-3.8 Snellen lines, at 9 months, 2.5+/-4.6 lines, and at 12 months after the injection, 2.6+/-4.0 lines. Intraocular pressure increased significantly (P<0.001) during the first 6 months, and returned to baseline at 9 months after injection. CONCLUSIONS: Single injection high-dosage IVTA did not show an apparent benefit at 12 months after injection in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.