Relation between reduction of foveal thickness and visual acuity in diabetic macular edema treated with intravitreal triamcinolone

TLDR: A single injection of 4 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide effectively reduces the foveal thickness in diabetic macular edema and improves visual acuity, but there does not appear to be a strong correlation between the reduction of fovea thickness and the improvement invisual acuity.

Abstract: PURPOSE: To evaluate the correlation between improvement in visual acuity and the reduction of foveal thickness after a single intravitreal injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone in diabetic macular edema. DESIGN: Prospective, interventional, nonrandomized clinical trial. METHOD: PATIENTS: In a prospective study 24 eyes with diabetic macular edema were treated with an intravitreal injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone acetonide. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Best-corrected logMAR visual acuity and optical coherence tomography were performed at baseline and 3 months after the treatment. RESULTS: At baseline the average foveal thickness was 462±154 μm(95%confidence interval, 397-527μm) and at 3 months 257 ±114 μm (95%confidence interval, 209-305 μm) (P .0001). The best-corrected logMAR average visual acuity was 60.5±10.5 (95%confidence interval, 56.0-65.0) ETDRS letters at baseline compared with 65.5±11.1 (95%confidence interval, 60.8-70.1) 3 months after the injection (P=.0001). There was no correlation between the improvement in visual acuity and the reduction of foveal thickness (r=0.054, P=.8), but there was a correlation between reduction in foveal thickness and the age of the patients (r=0.53, P=.008). CONCLUSION: A single injection of 4 mg of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide effectively reduces the foveal thickness in diabetic macular edema and improves visual acuity, but there does not appear to be a strong correlation between the reduction of foveal thickness and the improvement in visual acuity.