Article

Triamcinolone monotherapy loses favor as potential AMD treatment

In the new treatment era for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) heralded by the availability of locally administered anti-VEGF drugs, intravitreal monotherapy with triamcinolone injection may no longer be considered as a current therapy for this neovascular condition, said Jost Jonas, MD, at the World Ophthalmology Congress.

In the new treatment era for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) heralded by the availability of locally administered anti-VEGF drugs, intravitreal monotherapy with triamcinolone injection may no longer be considered as a current therapy for this neovascular condition, said Jost Jonas, MD, at the World Ophthalmology Congress.

Dr. Jonas of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, reviewed the results of studies investigating the efficacy and safety of intravitreal triamcinolone that demonstrated the treatment resulted in benefits in some patients, but also afforded no positive effect for an appreciable proportion, while being associated with high rates of adverse events.

Intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation, occurring in about 40% of eyes, and IOP has risen to frighteningly high levels in some cases. In addition, about 15% to 20% of the older population treated required cataract surgery within 1 year of receiving intravitreal triamcinolone and while serious complications, such as infectious endophthalmitis, have been rare, they did occur and the cumulative rate would be expected to increase with repeated injections.

"Intravitreal triamcinolone may still be a treatment option for a number of intraocular edemas, proliferative, and neovascular diseases, but exudative AMD probably no longer belongs on that list. For AMD, intravitreal triamcinolone may still be used in combination with verteporfin (Visudyne) photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, it remains to be seen whether intravitreal triamcinolone plus PDT may be replaced by anti-VEGF therapy plus PDT or triple therapy with intravitreal triamcinolone plus anti-VEGF therapy plus PDT," said Dr. Jonas.

Newsletter

Don’t miss out—get Ophthalmology Times updates on the latest clinical advancements and expert interviews, straight to your inbox.

Related Videos
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times)  ASCRS 2025: Joaquin De Rojas, MD, leverages machine learning model to predict arcuate outcomes
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: AnnMarie Hipsley, DPT, PhD, presents VESA for biomechanical simulation of presbyopia progression
Shehzad Batliwala, DO, aka Dr. Shehz, discussed humanitarian ophthalmology and performing refractive surgery in low-resource, high-risk areas at the ASCRS Foundation Symposium.
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: Advancing vitreous care with Inder Paul Singh, MD
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) The Residency Report: Study provides new insights into USH2A target end points
Lisa Nijm, MD, says preoperative osmolarity testing can manage patient expectations and improve surgical results at the 2025 ASCRS annual meeting
At the 2025 ASCRS Annual Meeting, Weijie Violet Lin, MD, ABO, shares highlights from a 5-year review of cross-linking complications
Maanasa Indaram, MD, is the medical director of the pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus division at University of California San Francisco, and spoke about corneal crosslinking (CXL) at the 2025 ASCRS annual meeting
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: Taylor Strange, DO, assesses early visual outcomes with femto-created arcuate incisions in premium IOL cases
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: Neda Shamie, MD, shares her early clinical experience with the Unity VCS system
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.