An implant that releases the medication dexamethasone within the eye appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of a uveitis.

To address these issues, an intravitreal (within the vitreous fluid of the eye), bioerodible, sustained-release implant has been developed to deliver a glucocorticoid medication, dexamethasone, to the back of the eye chamber. Careen Lowder, M.D., Ph.D., of the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute, and colleagues in the Ozurdex HURON Study Group conducted a 26-week randomized controlled trial involving 229 patients with intermediate or posterior uveitis. A total of 77 patients received an implant with a 0.7-milligram dose of dexamethasone, 76 received an implant with a 0.35-milligram dose and 76 underwent a sham procedure which followed the same protocol but used a needleless applicator.
After eight weeks, the eyes were evaluated for the presence and degree of vitreous haze, or inflammation that obscures visualization. Vitreous haze was scored from zero to four, with zero indicating no inflammation and four indicating the most severe inflammation, obscuring the optic nerve. At the beginning of treatment, participants had an average vitreous haze score of two.
At the eight-week follow-up, a vitreous haze score of zero was observed in 47 percent of eyes with the 0.7-milligram implant, 36 percent of those with the 0.35-milligram implant and 12 percent of those who underwent the sham procedure. There was no significant difference between the two treatment doses, and the benefit associated with the implant persisted through the 26-week study.
In addition, the percentage of eyes that achieved at least a 15-letter improvement in visual acuity was two- to six-fold greater in both implant groups than in the control group throughout the study.
"Typically, the most common adverse events associated with intravitreal corticosteroids, which may have impacted use in the past, including increases in intraocular pressure [pressure within the eye] and cataract. On any given follow-up visit in the present study, substantial increases in intraocular pressure (to 25 millimeters of mercury or greater) occurred in less than 10 percent of treated eyes," the authors write. In addition, only one of 62 phakic (with lenses) eyes required surgery to remove a cataract.
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Source-Eurekalert