Exudative age-related macular degeneration treated by intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide. A prospective comparative nonrandomized study

Purpose To report on visual outcome of patients receiving an intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide as treatment of progressive exudative age-related macular degeneration. Methods The prospective comparative nonrandomized clinical interventional study included 187 consecutive patients with progressive exudative age-related macular degeneration, divided into a study group of 115 patients receiving an intravitreal injection of 25 mg triamcinolone acetonide, and a control group of 72 patients without treatment. The mean follow-up was 6.0 +/- 4.2 months. Results Visual acuity increased significantly ( P = 0.03) in the study group, and decreased significantly ( P = 0.01) in the control group, at 1 month and 3 months after start of the study. Between the study group and control group, the differences in change of visual acuity were significant ( P = 0.001). In the study group, the number of patients with an increase in visual acuity of 2 or more Snellen lines was significantly ( P = 0.001) larger than in the control group. Correspondingly, the number of patients with a decrease of 2 or more Snellen lines was significantly ( P = 0.007) smaller in the study group. In all, 43 (37.4%) patients of the study group experienced an increase in best visual acuity by 2 or more Snellen lines. Conclusions Visual acuity increased in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration at 1 month and 3 months after an intravitreal injection of 25 mg triamcinolone acetonide.