Efficacy and Safety of Interferon Alpha 2A and Pegylated Interferon Alpha 2A in Inflammatory Macular Edema

Purpose: The aim of this study was to further explore the efficacy and safety of interferon-alpha in refractory non-infectious inflammatory macular edema and to compare interferon-alpha 2a and pegylated interferon-alpha 2b. Methods: 34 patients with refractory non-infectious uveitic macular edemaunder interferon-alpha were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Mean baseline best-corrected visual acuityimproved from 0.55 logMar to 0.37 logMAR (P < 0.001) at month (M) 1 and 0.40 logMAR (P < 0.001) at M6. The mean baseline CMT decreased from 554 mu m to 367 mu m (P < 0.001) at M1 and 394 mu m (P < 0.001) at M6. Clinical adverse effects (AEs) were observed in a third of patients, leading to treatment discontinuation because of frequent mild AEs and few severe AE. No statistically significant difference was found between both molecules. Conclusions: Anatomically and functionally, interferon-alpha was rapidly effective despite a low dosage regimen and no difference in efficacy and tolerance was observed between interferon-alpha 2a and pegylated interferon-alpha 2b.