Adjuvant Ozurdex In Cataract Surgery With Treatment-Requiring Diabetic Macular Oedema

To assess the outcome of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) following cataract surgery with adjuvant Ozurdex in patients with treatment-requiring diabetic macula oedema (DMO).

Anonymised data was extracted at one centre from an electronic medical record system.

Eyes undergoing cataract surgery with adjuvant Ozurdex implant in diabetic patients with Early or Centre involving DMO prior to study start. The minimum dataset included: age, BCVA prior to surgery, mean Central Retinal Thickness (CRT) on Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) prior to surgery, timing of cataract surgery and previous intravitreal therapy (IVT). Main outcome measure: BCVA at 6 weeks and 3 months post-surgery.

39 eyes met the inclusion criteria, average age of patients was 67. Centre involving DMO was found in 24 patients. At 6 weeks and 3 months post procedure, 34 and 22 patients attended follow-up respectively. At 6 weeks, 7 patients had no change in visual acuity, whereas 27 had improved vision. Mean improvement in BVA was 20.6 letters. At 3 months, 2 patients experienced no change from pre surgery, 2 experienced a reduction in vision and 18 patients had improved visual acuity. The average numbers of letters gained at 3 months was 26.9 letters.

The average CRT pre-operatively was 282.8μm. The average change at 6 weeks was a reduction in 12.1μm. The average change in CRT at 3 month review was an increase of 27.1μm.     

This real-world study demonstrates that the visual outcome in the vast majority of patients improves 6 weeks and 3 months following cataract surgery with intravitreal Ozurdex implants in patients with Early or Centre involving DMO. As found in other studies, DMO is associated with poorer outcomes after cataract surgery. Therefore, adjuvant Ozurdex could result in improved visual outcome in patients with DMO undergoing cataract surgery.