Time to disease recurrence in noninfectious uveitis following long-acting injectable fluocinolone acetonide implant.

Purpose: To determine the time to disease recurrence with long-acting injectable fluocinolone acetonide implant (FAi) for noninfectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with at least 12 months of follow-up who had completed a 2-year prospective, investigational new drug study with 0.18-mg FAi. Time to uveitis recurrence or cystoid macular edema (CME) occurrence was recorded.

Results: Twelve eyes from 12 participants (mean age 43 years, range 25-64 years) were included. Patients were followed for a mean of 34.2 months (range, 12.0-56.9 months) after completion of the prospective trial. Five eyes (42%) did not have a documented uveitis recurrence or CME occurrence. Five eyes (42%) had a uveitis recurrence with the mean time to recurrence 36.1 months (range, 22.8-61.1 months) after FAi implantation. Two eyes (16%) had CME alone, the mean time to occurrence 36.9 months (range 36.1-42.1 months). On Kaplan-Meier analysis, the estimated probability of remaining recurrence-free 36 months after FAi implantation was 0.67 (95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.86).

Conclusions: Data of study participants after completing a clinical trial suggest that the injectable FAi for noninfectious uveitis can provide control for 3 years on average. These long-term data support the use of FAi to control noninfectious uveitis.