Cataract surgery and the dexamethasone drug delivery system for the treatment of retinal venous occlusion

Purpose To report our case report with sustained-release dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant (Ozurdex®; Allergan, Inc., Irvine, CA) in retinal vein occlusion with macular edema Methods A 81-years old male patient with recent retinal vein occlusion with macular edema treated with sustained-release dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant and cataract surgery was performed. On initial examination, the right best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0,1. Right fundoscopy revealed retinal hemorrhage in the superior quadrant of the retina. The fluorescein retinal angiography showed a delay of filling time and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (Spectralis SD-OCT; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) showed macular edema 485 μm Results The patient was treated with two dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant and cataract surgery in one year. During the first six months after implant the right BCVA was 0,4 and OCT: 294 μm. At six months the macular edema increased 335 μm and we treated with the second implant, the macular edema improved 280μm but not the BCVA and we realized cataract surgery and BCVA was improved to 0.5. Conclusion The dexamethasone drug delivery system is one of the most recent additions to the armamentarium against macular edema, and is intriguing for its potency, dose consistency, potential for extended duration of action, and favorable safety profile but can accelerate cataract surgery.In patients with macular edema in retinal vein occlusion, sustained-release dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant may be an effective treatment option to control macular edema