Dexamethasone drug delivery system shows potential in macular oedema

In persistent macular oedema, a single dexamethasone drug delivery system (DDS) treatment can significantly improve best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), according to a report published in the March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Baruch Kuppermann of the University of California, Irvine, USA and colleagues, conducted a six-month randomized study of 315 subjects with persistent macular oedema. Each subject had a preoperative BCVA of between 20/40 and 20/200 in the study eye and were randomized to observation or a single treatment with dexamethasone DDS (350 or 700 µg).

At day 90, an improvement in BCVA of 10 letters or more was achieved by more patients in the treatment arm (700 µg: 35%; 350 µg: 24%) than in those patients in the observation arm (13%; p<0.001 vs 700 µg group; p=0.04 vs 350 µg group).

An improvement in BCVA of 15 letters or more was achieved in 18% of patients treated with dexamethasone DDS 700 µg, versus 6% of observed patients (p=0.006). During the three-month observation period, 11% of treated patients and 2% of observed patients had an intraocular pressure increase of 10 mmHg or higher.

The authors of the study believe that dexamethasone DDS (700 µg) could have potential as an effective treatment for patients with persistent macular oedema.