effect of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide on visual acuity and macular thickness in macular edema associated with nonischemic central retinal vein occlusion

purpose : to evaluate the effectiveness of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide on visual acuity and macular thickness using optical coherence tomography in macular edema associated with nonischemic central retinal vein occlusion (crvo). design : a prospective interventional case series. patients & methods : twenty eyes of 25 patients with nonischemic crvo and macular edema with visual acuity of less than or equal to 0.4 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logmar) received 4 mg intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide after baseline examination which included measurement of best corrected visual acuity (bcva) and intraocular pressure, slit lamp examination, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography (oct) of macula. the main outcome measures were visual acuity after 1, 3, 6, and 9 months and 1-mm central macular thickness change at 3 months after injection. results : mean duration of symptoms before injection was (83.72±57.60 days). mean visual acuity significantly improved from baseline 1.34±0.71 (20/400) to 0.67±0.42 (20/100), p=0.000, 0.61±0.42 (20/80), p=0.000, and 0.90±0.62 (20/160), p=0.004, at 1, 3, 6 months, respectively, but decreased to 1.43±0.76 (20/600), p=0.188 at 9 months. a 42.85% reduction observed in mean baseline 1-mm central macular thickness 634.36 ± 212.70 µm to (362.56±199.63 µm, p=0.000) at 3 months. conclusion : intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide can significantly be effective in reducing macular edema and improving visual acuity in nonischemic crvo at least in short term but it is necessary to investigate the risks and benefits of this option with a control group.   iranian journal of ophthalmology 2006 19(2):6-11