Intravitreal triamcinolone: Efficacy and complications of different methods of drug delivery.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and complication rates of different methods of IVTA delivery, specifically, Triesence (Alcon Laboratories) and Kenacort A-40 (Aspen Pharma). Method(s): Members of the RANZCO Uveitis Special interest group were invited to take part in a prospective, online IVTA audit via a secure online platform. Main outcomes assessed included visual acuity (VA), central macular thickness (CMT) and incidence of complications. Result(s): 138 Triesence and 60 Kenacort injections from 91 patients (mean age 64 years) were recorded from January 2012 to June 2014 in 7 ophthalmic practices across Australia. The most common indications for treatment were diabetic macular oedema (45.7%), uveitis (29.8%), pseudophakic macular oedema (7.4%) and retinal vein occlusion (7.4%). The mean CMT at time of first injection was 461 mum +/- 176 in the Triesence group and 473 mum +/- 165 in the Kenacort group, with mean logMAR VA of 0.61 +/- 0.28 and 0.57 +/- 0.28 respectively. Of those with 1 month post-injection data (62.3%), the mean CMT decreased to 306 mum +/- 70 (p < 0.0001) in the Triesence group and 290 mum +/- 72 (p < 0.0001) in the Kenacort group, with mean VA of 0.40 +/- 0.28 (p = 0.0003) and 0.47 +/- 0.29 respectively (p = 0.2). The most common complication was ocular hypertension, which occurred in 13.0% of the Triesence group and 10.5% of the Kenacort group. Conclusion(s): Our preliminary analysis has found that intravitreal Triesence and Kenacort have a similar efficacy in improving mean visual acuity and central macular thickness at 1 month post-injection, with a similar complications profile.