Combination therapy with triamcinolone acetonide and bevacizumab for the treatment of severe radiation maculopathy in patients with posterior uveal melanoma

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in patients who developed severe, visually compromising radiation maculopathy or progressed despite anti-angiogenic treatments. METHODS: An Institutional Review Board approved, consecutive, retrospective study from 2006 to 2009 of patients who developed severe, visually compromising radiation retinopathy manifesting as macular edema secondary to iodine-125 plaque brachytherapy for posterior uveal melanoma, were treated with a combination of intravitreal bevacizumab and intravitreal triamcinolone. Patients were evaluated with spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) at 2–4 month intervals following plaque removal. Treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab commenced at the first signs of visually compromising macular edema diagnosed with SD-OCT. Triamcinolone acetonide was administered to patients with severe maculopathy as consolidative therapy, or for patients that were refractory to repeated bevacizumab injections with persistent or worsening cystoid macular edema and lack of improvement or progressive worsening of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). RESULTS: Twenty-five patients were evaluated after receiving a combination of intravitreal bevacizumab and triamcinolone. Initial treatment commenced at a mean of 14.5 (range of 2–42) months after plaque brachytherapy. Patients were given a mean of two injections (range 1–6) of triamcinolone acetonide, and a mean of 8.8 bevacizumab injections (range of 1–26) with a mean follow-up of 31.2 months. Radiation maculopathy upon first detection had a mean SD-OCT grade of 3.6 (median = 4), with an associated mean entry level BCVA of 20/70. Visual acuity at time of first intravitreal triamcinolone was 20/138. At last follow-up (mean of 45.5 months after plaque brachytherapy) mean BCVA was 20/136; however, 9 of 25 (36%) patients who presented with severe radiation maculopathy demonstrated 20/50 or better vision at last follow-up. CONCLUSION: This case series suggests a beneficial role for intravitreal triamcinolone as a consolidation treatment for patients who present with severe radiation maculopathy or as an adjuvant to bevacizumab for refractory or progressive maculopathy.