Short-term effects of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection on ocular blood flow evaluated with color Doppler ultrasonography.

AIM To evaluate the changes in ocular blood flow with color Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) after intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) injection. METHODS A total of 46 patients who underwent IVTA (4 mg/0.1 mL) injection for diabetic macular edema (DME) (n=22), central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) (n=12) and choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) (n=12) were included in the study. Peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV) and resistivity index (RI) were measured from the ophthalmic artery (OA), the central retinal artery (CRA) and the posterior ciliary artery (PCA) of each patient with CDU before, at the end of the first week and at the end of the first month following IVTA injection. RESULTS In the DME group, PSV of OA at the first of the first month (mean±SD) (37.48±10.87 cm/s) increased compared to pre-injection value (31.39±10.84 cm/s) (P=0.048). There was a statistically significant decrease (P=0.049) in PSV of CRA at the end of the first month (7.97±2.67 cm/s) compared to the pre-injection (9.47±3.37 cm/s). There was not any statistically significant difference on the other parameters in the DME group. Also, there was not any statistically significant difference on the ocular blood flow values in the CRVO and CNVM groups. CONCLUSION We observed that 4 mg/0.1 mL IVTA increased PSV of OA and decreased PSV of CRA in DME patients and did not have any effect on ocular blood flow values of CRVO and CNVM patients.