Analysis of the Effect of Intravitreal Dexamethasone Injection on Diabetic Macular Edema After Cataract Surgery (IDDMECS)
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2011-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Macular Edema (Swelling of a particular site of the retina) can become a significant problem
for Diabetics undergoing Cataract surgery. And a significant number of people who undergo
Cataract surgery each year are diabetics. And when you multiply these two factors together
you are left with a significant number of people who do not gain as much vision as their
peers. Diabetics who develop Macular Edema actually can loose some vision after surgery and
when you follow them up, they don't gain as much vision. This Study aims to prevent such an
event from happening and therefore allow Diabetics to gain as much vision as they can from
cataract surgery. This study will use Dexamethasone injected intravitreally (into the gel of
the eye) at the end of cataract extraction to control Macular edema brought about by surgery.
The main outcome is the central retina thickness and retinal volume as measured by Optical
Coherence Tomography. Secondary outcomes are BCVA and incidence of Laser Treatment.
Other Drugs, life Bevacizumab and Pegaptanib, have been used for this purpose but they are
expensive and have potential systemic side-effects due to anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial
growth factor) actions. Dexamethasone has been used in the eye for decades and is
short-lived, minimizing possible systemic effects. Moreover, this drug is at least 15x
cheaper than the previously mentioned ones and therefore has tremendous benefit for
developing countries. We seek an alternative drug that can reduce or prevent Macular edema at
a less expensive and safer way.