The efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implant as the first-line treatment for retinal vein occlusion-related macular edema in a real-life scenario.

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI; Ozurdex) injection for treating macular edema in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) or central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).

Methods: This prospective study included 40 eyes of 40 patients with nonischemic BRVO and 31 eyes of 31 patients with nonischemic CRVO who received IDI injection as the first-line treatment for macular edema. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) value before and after the treatment; intraocular pressure; optic coherence tomography findings; and all ocular examination findings, including central foveal thickness (CFT) measurement and fluorescein angiography findings, were evaluated for each patient.

Results: After the IDI injection, BCVA value increased (P < 0.001) and CFT value decreased (P < 0.001) in both groups. The recurrence rates of CFT elevation after the first and the second Ozurdex injections were 65.0% and 65.3%, respectively, in patients with BRVO and 70.9% and 68.1%, respectively, in patients with CRVO. A statistically significant correlation was observed between preinjection CFT value and postinjection recurrence of CFT elevation (P = 0.017).

Conclusion: Treatment with the IDI injections resulted in significant short-term improvement in CFT and BCVA values in patients with clinically significant RVO-related macular edema. Moreover, we observed that high preinjection CFT value was associated with a risk of postinjection recurrence of CFT elevation.