A clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) — part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — has found systemic therapy including corticosteroids and immunosuppressants preserved vision of uveitis patients better, and had fewer adverse outcomes, than a long-lasting corticosteroid intraocular implant.
The study — known as the Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment Trial (MUST) — also reportedly found after seven years, visual acuity on average remained stable among participants on systemic therapy but declined by an average of six letters (about one line on an eye chart) among participants who had the implant.
Researchers believe their trial suggests oral corticosteroids and immunosuppression may be a preferable initial choice for therapy of more severe uveitis, and the implant may have a role in treating patients where systemic therapy fails to control inflammation or patients cannot tolerate the oral medications.
The study was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
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Source: National Institutes of Health