Objective To compare effects of intra-articular injection of corticosteroid or viscoelastic agent alone or a combination of the two drugs for treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders. Methods A prospective quasirandomized controlled trial was conducted to compare 3 treatment protocols of intra-articular injections in the upper compartment of the joint immediately following arthrocentesis repeatedly every 10 days: ① triamcinolone 8 mg alone for 3 times, ② 1% hyaluronate 1 ml alone for 4 times, and ③ triamcinolone 8 mg for 2 times then 1% hyaluronate 1 ml for 2 times. Clinical examinations were done at baseline, 1, 12, and 24 months after end of the treatments. According to improvement of the symptoms and clinical signs, the effectiveness was graded in 3 classes: excellent, better, no change, or worse. The first two were classified as effective. Effective rates of the treatments and subgroups were compared statistically. Results Five hundred and sixty four patients with temporomandibular disorders were included and randomly allocated to 3 groups with 188 patients in each group. The rate of lost follow up at 24 months was 6.9% to 10.1%. At one month after treatment, the triamcinolone group had a better effective rate at 92.0%. At 12 and 24 months of follow up, effective rates of the hyaluronate group were better than those in the triamcinolone alone group (84.6% vs. 54.1% and 83.4% vs. 40.4%). Effective rates of combining triamcinolone and hyaluronate group at 12 and 24 months were 90.4% and 66.3% respectively. Conclusion Intra-articular injection of corticosteroid has better results in a short term and hyaluronate has better results in a long term in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide combined of macular laser grid photocoagulation (IVTA/MLG) versus macular laser grid (MLG) photocoagulation only for treatment of diabetic macular edema. Methods A computerized search was conducted in the Cochrane Library, Embase Library, Pubmed, Chinese Biomedical Database, Chinese Journal Full-text Database and Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) on IVTA/MLG and MLG only for treatment of diabetic macular edema were selected. After the data extraction, quality of RCT was assessed. The meta analysis was performed by RevMan 5.1.The outcome measures included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the central foveal thickness (CMT). Results In total, six RCT that fulfilled the eligibility criteria were included in the metaanalysis involving 166 eyes in MLG group and 165 eyes in IVTA/MLG group. The results suggested that there was no significant differences in BCVA (Z=1.27,P=0.20), but differences were statistically significant comparing CMT (Z=2.41,P=0.02), incidence of ocular hypertension and cataract (Z=3.62,P＜0.01) between MLG and IVTA/MLG groups at the six month follow-up. Conclusions There is no significant advantage of IVTA/MLG as compared with MLG,but it could reduce CMT. However, a high-quality, large sample RCT should be further investigated.
Objective To evaluate the effects of retinal cryotherapy and intravitreal triamcinolone injection to treat Coatsprime; disease with exudative retinal detachment.Methods This was a prospective consecutive case study, and 21 patients (21 eyes) with Coatsprime; disease accompanied by exudative retinal detachment were enrolled. There were 19 males and two females patients, aged from two to 18 years. Fifteen eyes had partial retinal detachment (stage 3A) and six eyes had total retinal detachment (stage 3B). All patients underwent cryocoagulation and intravitreal triamcinolone injection. Three eyes underwent sclerotomy to drain subretinal fluid. Four eyes underwent further treatment by photocoagulation or cryotherapy for the residual abnormal blood vessels after the surgery. The follow-up ranged from three to 15 months with an average of seven months. Visual acuity, intraocular pressure, eye position and eye movements, slit lamp microscope, indirect ophthalmoscope and color fundus imaging were followed up. The last followup time was considered as the judgment time for the therapeutic effects. Results Six eyes had increased intraocular pressure after the surgery, which was controlled by local drug treatment. At the end of follow-up, 19 eyes had reattached retina, one eye had partial retinal detachment and one eye had total retinal detachment. The vision improved in three eyes,unchanged in 14 eyes, and decreased in two eyes. Other complications included strabismus (one eye) and cataract (four eyes). Conclusion The combined treatment of cryotherapy and intravitreal triamcinolone injection is an effective therapy for the Coatsprime; disease with exudative retinal detachment, as retina reattaches and visual function is saved in most patients after this treatment.
Objective To observe the influence of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) on the expression of pigment epitheliumderived factor (PEDF) of human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Methods Cultured humanRPE cells (4th－6th generations) were treated with four different concentrations of TA (40, 400, 4times;103 and 4times;104 mu;g/L) for three different periods (12 or 24 or 48 hours), the levels of PEDF protein in the cell culture supernatant and cell lysates were determined by Western blot. After the initial experiment, RPE cells were treated with or without tumor necrosis factor-alpha; (TNF-alpha;, 20 ng/ml） for 24 hours, followed by TA (400 mu;g/L) treatment. The levels of PEDF and phospho-p38 mitogen activated protein kinase(p-p38MAPK) protein expression in cell culture supernatant and cell lysates were measured by Western blot. Results TAtreated RPE cells had higher PEDF expression, and 400 mu;g/L TA group had the highest effect (F＝16.98,P＜0.05). 400 mu;g/L TA treatment for one, six or 24 hours, with or without TNF-alpha; pretreatment, could all promote the PEDF expression and inhibit the p-p38MAPK protein expression (F＝16.87, 10.28; P＜0.01). TNF-alpha; pretreatment alone could inhibit PEDF protein expression and promote p-p38MAPK protein expression (F=16.87, 10.28; P＜0.01). Conclusions TA can up-regulate the expression of PEDF, and downregulate the expression of p-p38MAPK in the cultured human RPE cells.
Objective To compare the efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone(IVTA) injection and IVTA combined with macular laser grid photocoagulation（MLGP）to treat macular edema.Methods Consecutive 89 patients （109 eyes）diagnosed with macular edema by examinations of ocular fundus and optical coherence tomography (OCT).The visual acuity was hand moving-0.8 (0.19plusmn;0.13)；the intraocular pressure（IOP）ranged from 7 mm Hg to 21 mm Hg（1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa）and the average IOP was 13.78 mm Hg.All the patients received OCT and microperimetry examinations，the central macular thickness was （570plusmn;182）mu;m；the average light sensitivity was （5.07plusmn;3.94） dB and the fixation percentage was 70.67% within 4 deg;area around the macular fovea. All the patients received IVTA treatment，39 patients（48 eyes）further received MLGP 1 month later (IVTAMLGP group). The remaining 50 patients (61 eyes) without MLGP treatment was the IVTA group. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA),IOP,lens,OCT and microprimetry examinations before and after IVTA (1,3,6,12 months) were followed and analyzed.Results On the 12th months，the BCVA in IVTAMLGP and IVTA group was （0.41plusmn;0.20）、（0.24plusmn;0.19）respectively (P＜0.05)；the central macular thickness was （309plusmn;187） and （487plusmn;206） mu;m respectively（P＜0.05）；the mean light sensitivity of 4deg; central macular was （8.24plusmn;4.64）and（6.30plusmn;3.22）dB respectively（P＜0.05）；the fixation percentage was（87.01plusmn;19.70）% and（78.85plusmn;20.41）% respectively （P＜0.05）. During the followup recurrent macular edema was noticed in 28 eyes of IVTA group and 8 eyes of IVTAMLGP group.Conclusions IVTA combined with MLG was more effective than IVTA to cure macular edema.
Objective To investigate the relationship between expression of retinal intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and blood-retinal barrier (BRB) rupture and therapeutic effect of intravitreous injection with triamcinolone acetonide (TA) on blood-retinal barrier rupture in rats with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods Diabetic model of Wistar rats was induced and were divided into normal control group, DM-4-month group and DM-6-month group. Each group was subdivided into immunohistochemcial staining and BRB measurement groups. BRB measurement group was further divided into non-TA treatment group, 1-week-TA treatment group, and 2-week-TA treatment group. The rats were intravitreously injected with 5 mu;l TA. The digested retinal preparation was stained by immunohistochemcial method to observe the expression of retinal ICAM-1 and morphological changes. The mean optic density (A) value of endothelial cells was measured by image-analyzing software to quantify the expression of ICAM-1. BRB changes were measured by content test of retinal Evans blue (EB). Results In the immunohistochemcial staining groups, there was no significant positive expression of ICAM-1 in retinal capillary in control group. Compared with the control, there was significant positive expression of ICAM-1 in DM-4-month group (P＜0.001) with some morphological changes such as irregular width of capillary caliber, and there was enhanced positive expression of ICAM-1 in DM-6-month group (P＜0.001) with aggravated morphological changes and even acellular capillary. In the BRB measurement groups, there was no significant difference of EB content(P＞0.05) among control groups. The EB content in two DM groups significantly increased compared with that in the controls (Plt;0.001), and higher in DM-6-month group than that in DM-4-month group (Plt;0.01). In TA treatment groups, the EB content in all the DM groups significantly decreased (Plt;0.001) but with no significant difference among the groups(P＞0.05). EB content in DM-4-month group after 2-week treatment almost reached to normal value (P＞0.05) while was higher in the rest of TA treatment groups than that in the control group (Plt;0.05). Rectilinear correlation between A value of endothelial cells and the retinal EB content(r=－0.959)was found. Conclusion There is a positive relation between the expression of ICAM-1 and BRB rupture in retina of DM rats, and intravitreous injection with TA can effectively alleviate BRB rupture. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2006, 22: 24-27)