Implant helps boost acuity

A new steroid treatment for macular oedema caused by retinal vein occlusion (RVO) has been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

Manufactured by Allergan, Ozurdex is an intravitreal implant of dexamethasone, a corticosteroid. Dexamethasone is slowly released from the implant into the vitreous and acts locally to control oedema, reduce inflammation around the occlusion and therefore improve a patient's visual acuity.

In clinical trials involving 1,267 patients with macular oedema due to either branch or central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), significant improvement in vision (defined as =15 letters or three lines on an eye chart) was seen after two months in up to 30 per cent of patients with macular oedema due to RVO following just one injection of Ozurdex.