RESEARCH ARTICLE
Intraocular Pressure Following Intravitreal Injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide§
Ejaz A Ansari*, N Ali1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2008Volume: 2
First Page: 119
Last Page: 122
Publisher ID: TOOPHTJ-2-119
DOI: 10.2174/1874364100802010119
Article History:
Received Date: 30/4/2008Revision Received Date: 22/5/2008
Acceptance Date: 13/6/2008
Electronic publication date: 30/6/2008
Collection year: 2008

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background:
To investigate the intraocular pressure (IOP) response following intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide.
Methods:
This retrospective consecutive non-comparative case series study included 41 patients (52 eyes) (19 male, 22 female, mean age 64.1 ± 13.44; range 22 – 85 years) with progressive exudative ARMD (n = 10 eyes) or diffuse diabetic macular oedema (42 eyes), who received one or more intravitreal injection(s) of 4 mg triamcinolone acetonide.
Results:
IOP increased significantly (p<0.001) from 16.08 (±3.28) mm Hg (range 12-26 mm Hg) preoperatively to a mean maximum of 26.1 (±11.79) mmHg (range 15-80 mm Hg) postoperatively (p<0.001). An IOP rise to values higher than 21 mm Hg was observed in 28 (53.8%) eyes. Elevation of IOP occurred 7.5 weeks (±7.07) after the injection. All five patients (11.9%) with a family history of glaucoma developed an IOP rise above the mean maximum level. The post-injection rise of IOP was statistically independent of gender (p=0.37), but the presence of diabetes mellitus demonstrated a marked influence on the rate of a postoperative elevation of IOP (p=0.05).
Conclusion:
The IOP response following IVTA was consistent with previous studies. A family history of glaucoma and a history of diabetes mellitus may predispose patients to a greater than average IOP rise following IVTA. Careful IOP assessment for at least 6 months post injection is recommended.