Purpose: To study the treatment patterns, visual outcomes and safety profile of intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI) used for the treatment of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion.
Methods: Up to 2 years of routinely collected anonymized data within electronic medical record systems were remotely extracted from 16 centers. The outcome measures include visual outcome, number of injections, and safety measures, including the rate of intraocular pressure (IOP) rise, frequency of IOP-lowering medication usage, and cataract surgery rates.
Results: The study included 688 eyes (44.4%) with central retinal vein occlusion and 862 eyes (55.6%) with branch retinal vein occlusion; 1,250 eyes (80.6%) were treatment naive and 28% (275/989) had high IOP or were on IOP-lowering medications before IDI use. It was found that 31% (476) of eyes received two injections, and 11.7% (182) and 3.7% (58) of eyes received three and four injections, respectively. The mean baseline Snellen visual acuity improved from 20/125 to 20/40 after the first injection. The probability of cataract surgery was 15% at 24 months. The proportion of eyes with ≥10 mmHg change from baseline was higher in phakic (14.2%) compared with pseudophakic eyes (5.4%, P = 0.004). Three eyes required IOP filtering surgery (0.2%).
Conclusion: The visual results of IDI in eyes with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion in the real world are comparable to those of clinical trial setting. Increased IOP in eyes with preexisting ocular hypertension or glaucoma can be controlled with additional medical treatment. Intraocular pressure rise with IDI may be more frequent in phakic than in pseudophakic eyes.