[Real life retrospective study of 98 eyes treated with intravitreal dexamethasone or anti-VEGF injections for macular edema due to diabetes or retinal vein occlusion].

Purpose: To evaluate long term outcomes of patients presenting with diabetic macular edema (DME) or edema secondary to a retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Methods: This is a real world, retrospective, single-center study of 65 eyes of 47 patients treated for DME and 33 eyes of 33 patients with macular edema secondary to RVO between July 2012 and October 2018. The patients treated were treatment-naive and were followed for at least one year. We collected data such as visual acuity, central macular thickness, intravitreal injections (number/year, injection schedule, number of switches), number of visits and cases of vision loss.

Results: DME: the mean age at inclusion was 65.9years with 60.4% women, and the mean follow-up was 28.5months. The mean gain in visual acuity after 1year of follow-up was 6.4 ETDRS letters for patients treated with anti-VEGF and 2.6 letters for patients treated with dexamethasone. The average number of intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF was 5.6/year, compared to 2.9/year for dexamethasone. Fourteen patients initially treated with anti-VEGF were switched to dexamethasone. RVO: the mean age at inclusion was 68.8years with 54.5% women and a mean follow-up of 31.1months. The mean gain in visual acuity after 1year of follow-up was 26.7 ETDRS letters for patients treated with anti-VEGF and 7.0 letters for patients treated with dexamethasone. The average number of intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF was 5.8/year, compared to 2.4/year for dexamethasone. Five patients initially treated with anti-VEGF were switched to dexamethasone in the first year of follow-up.

Conclusion: In this real-life retrospective study, we found good anatomical and functional results similar to those reported in other studies, remaining stable over time, for patients with DME or macular edema secondary to RVO.