Intravitreal dexamethasone implant in naïve and previously treated patients with diabetic macular edema: a retrospective study.

Abstract

To assess the effect of the intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX) Ozurdex on the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). Totally 43 eyes (24 naïve and 19 previously treated) were included in the study. Retrospective and single-center study involved patients with a clinical diagnosed of DME, who received treatment with DEX implant and had a follow-up of at least 12mo. Primary endpoints included changes in BCVA and CRT. At month 12, mean improvement in BCVA from baseline was 20.4±20.8 letters and 6.8±6.9 letters in naïve and previously treated patients, respectively (P=0.0132). The naïve patients achieved the BCVA improvement significantly faster (2.4±1.5mo) than the previously treated ones (3.5±2.4mo, P=0.0298; Mann-Whitney test). The proportion of eyes gaining ≥15 letters was 54.2% and 21.1% in the non-previously treated and previously treated groups, respectively (P=0.0293). CRT was significantly reduced from 484.0±119.8 and 487.5±159.9 µm to 272.0±39.2 and 233.5±65.7 µm in the naïve and previously treated patients, respectively; P The results obtained in this study may support the early use of DEX Ozurdex as first line therapy in naïve patients.