Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in macular edema

Macular edema is one of the most important causes of impaired vision; it can occur in many diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, central retinal vein occlusion, branch retinal vein occlusion, exudative age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), perifoveal telangiectasias, pseudophakia, uveitis, ischemic ophthalmopathy, and chronic prephthisical ocular hypotony. Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide has increasingly been used as a treatment option for exudative ARMD because of the neovascular and edematous nature of the disease and the possible antiangiogenic, antiproliferative, and antiedematous effects of the drug. Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide has several side-effects, one of the two most common of which is steroid-induced elevation of intraocular pressure. Eyes with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide and infectious endophthalmitis show a marked destruction of the whole globe. Triamcinolone acetonide crystals that are washed from the vitreous cavity into the anterior chamber usually settle down in the inferior anterior chamber angle, mimicking a hypopyon.