Intraocular injection of crystalline cortisone as adjunctive treatment of diabetic macular edema

PURPOSE: To report the clinical outcome of a diabetic patient with macular edema treated with an intravitreal injection of crystalline cortisone. METHODS: Interventional case report. A 73-year-old patient with diabetes mellitus presented with clinically significant diffuse macular edema caused by nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Despite grid laser coagulation in the macular region, cystoid macular edema progressed, and within 6 months before the cortisone injection, visual acuity declined from 0.25 to 0.16 and, finally, to 0.10. The patient received a single intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide with topical anesthesia. RESULTS: After the intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide, visual acuity improved from 0.10 to 0.40 during the follow-up period spanning 5 months. Intraocular pressure increased to values up to 30 mm Hg before antiglaucomatous treatment. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide may be useful for treatment of diabetic macular edema resistant to conventional therapy. (Am J Ophthalmol 2001;132:425-427. (C) 2001 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.).