TO COMPARE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON LENS, CORNEA AND ANTERIOR CAMERA IN PHAKIC PATIENTS WHO RECEIVED 3 DOSES OF INTRAVITREAL DEXAMETHASONE FOR RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION

To compare the long-term effects on lens, cornea and anterior camera in phakic patients who received intravitreal dexamethasone for retinal vein occlusion.

Progression follow-up was performed in all cases. Anova, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests were used for statistical analysis.

Fifty-four eyes without any corneal pathology who underwent intravitreal dexamethasone (OZURDEX®; Allergan, Inc, Irvine, CA) implant due to retinal vein occlusion in our clinic were retrospectively analyzed. The phakic cases who had 3 injections in total were included in the study. Corneal thickness, lens thickness and anterior camera depth measurements were used before the injection, one month after the first injection, one month after the second injection, and one month after the third injection. 

There was no statistical difference between the 3 groups in terms of preoperative corneal thickness, lens thickness and anterior camera depth (p>0.05).

There was no statistically significant difference between the averages of corneal thickness, lens thickness and anterior camera depth obtained from 3 intravitreal injections and measurements at the end of 3 months (p>0.05).

It is known that dexamazone has a cataract-increasing effect on the lens, constricting the anterior camera. In the Genava study with a single dose of ozurdex, it was reported that this effect was in the same direction but less. Differently, we wanted to see the effect of repeated doses of ozurdex in our study. In our study, we found that lens thickness increased in accordance with the literature, but repeated doses were not statistically significant and had no effect on corneal thickness, similar to the literature.