Bilateral effect of unilateral dexamethasone intravitreal implant in a case of noninfectious uveitic macular edema and vitritis.

PURPOSE

To describe a bilateral therapeutic effect of the 0.7-mg dexamethasone drug delivery system injected in 1 eye of a patient with bilateral, noninfectious uveitic macular edema and vitritis.

METHODS

Interventional case report.

RESULTS

A 26-year-old woman had vitritis and macular edema in both eyes and received a dexamethasone drug delivery system injection to the right eye. Best-corrected visual acuity, clinical examination, and Heidelberg Spectralis spectral domain optical coherence tomography were performed at baseline and during follow-up visits. Follow-up time was 24 months. Vitritis and macular edema completely resolved in both eyes with bilateral improvement in visual acuity. Treatment effect enabled systemic immunosuppressive treatment to be lowered, and the effect lasted for 24 months.

CONCLUSION

Unilateral dexamethasone drug delivery system injection might have a bilateral therapeutic effect in uveitic eyes. This observation may be related to the compromised blood-retina barrier in eyes with uveitis. Further studies are warranted to assess this effect.