OPHTHALMOLOGICA - Edited by Jose Cunha Vaz

Good long-term effect

Eyes with non-infectious uveitis can achieve long-term visual gains following intravitreal injection of a dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex®, Allergan) according to the results of a retrospective study involving eight eyes of seven patients. Macular oedema resolved in all eyes by a mean follow-up of 3.9 weeks (range 1–6.9) post-injection. The mean central point thickness improved from 612μm to 250μm (p < 0.05). In five eyes, CME had still not recurred after a mean follow-up of 14.5 months. In three eyes, CME relapsed after a mean 4.7 months but resolved again following further injections. Z Habot-Wilner et al “Long-Term Outcome of an Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant for the Treatment of Noninfectious Uveitic Macular Edema”, Ophthalmologica 2014; DOI:10.1159/000362178.

Implant’s efficacy varies among different CME types

The Ozurdex dexamethasone implant resolves cystoid macular oedema (CME) faster and for longer in cases of uveitis than it does in cases of diabetic macular oedema (DME) or vein occlusion, according to a comparative study involving 37 eyes of 33 patients. The patients underwent a total of 53 injections and had a mean follow-up of 22 weeks. CME resolved in a mean of two weeks in seven uveitis patients, compared to a mean of eight weeks among 14 eyes with DME and eight weeks among 15 eyes with vein occlusion. In addition, there were no signs of CME recurrence for a mean of 20 weeks in the uveitis group, compared to a mean of only 13 weeks in the DME group and 11 weeks in the vein occlusion group. N Sorkin et al, “Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant in Patients with Persistent Macular Edema of Variable Etiologies”, Ophthalmologica 2014; (DOI:10.1159/000360304)

Function matches structure in Stargardt's

Multifocal electroretinograms (mfERGs) correlate well with the ophthalmic appearance of the fundus in patients with Stargardt’s disease/fundus flavimaculatus (SFF), a new study shows. Among 49 eyes with SFF, those with type 1 disease had severely reduced mfERGs in the macular area and reduced and delayed responses in the mid-periphery and those with type 2 SFF patients had reduced but recordable mfERGs from the centre of the macula with more depressed responses in the paramacular area. Furthermore, the type 3 SFF patients had reduced and delayed mfERGs both in the macula and periphery and those with type 4 SFF had normal mfERGs in the macular area and delayed responses in all outer zones. Kuniyoshi K et al, “Multifocal Electroretinograms in Disease/Fundus Flavimaculatus”, Ophthalmologica 2014;DOI:10.1159/000361056.