The effect of intravitreal triamcinolone on foveal edema in exudative macular degeneration

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of a single intravitreal injection of triamcinolone (IVTA) on central macular thickness and visual acuity in eyes with minimally classic exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). DESIGN- Retrospective, nonrandomized clinical interventional study. METHODS: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and best,corrected logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity were performed at baseline and one month after treatment. RESULTS: We identified I I eyes with foveal edema and minimally classic subfoveal neovascularization treated with an IVTA. Foveal edema decreased significantly from 401 98 mu m at baseline to 295 141 mu m (mean standard deviation; P = .004) at one month. There was, however, no significant change in visual acuity at one or three months after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: This biological effect of IVTA does not support its clinical use, yet it does warrant further research to determine whether locally delivered cortico- steroids may be synergistic with other treatments. Reduction in foveal edema is not necessarily associated with improved visual function in exudative AMD.