| Summary: | INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the effectiveness of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection (IVTA) in chronic diabetic macular edema (DME) and to assess complications of treatment. METHODS: 4 mg/0.1ml triamcinolone acetonide was injected into the intravitreal cavity of 34 eyes of 20 patients. 7 male and 13 female patients; with diabetic retinopathy that unresponsive to laser photocoagulation were enrolled. The visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP) and macular edema were compared in pretreatment and posttreatment 1st week, 1st, 3rd, and 5th months. RESULTS: Median duration of follow-up was 5.05+-0.76 months (4-6 months). The macular edema was significantly improved (27/34 eyes (79.4%); 30/34 eyes (88.2%), and 27/34 eyes (79.4%) at the 1st, 3rd, and 5th months; respectively). Visual acuity improved 13/34 eyes (38.2 %) at the 1st week, 23/34 eyes (67.6%) in the 1st month, 23/34 (67.6%) in the 3rd month, and 24/34 (70.5%) in the 5th month. Except cataract formation in 2 eyes, none of other patient experienced a complication related to IVTA injection. In addition, none of the patients had IOP above 21 mmHg. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: IVTA is a safe and effective therapeutic method for chronic diabetic macular edema unresponsive to prior laser photocoagulation. However, further studies with longer follow-up and larger number of patients are required to assess the long-term efficacy and to determine the criterias for retreatment.
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