Fluocinolone Acetonide Insert (ILUVIEN®) for Diabetic Macular Edema (FAD) Study

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major complication of diabetes mellitus that can lead to significant visual morbidity. Important features of DR are microaneurysms, vascular leakage, vascular occlusion, and retinal neovascularization. Diabetic macular edema (DME) occurs when there is leakage in the macula, the central region of the retina that is responsible for fine visual acuity. DME is the most prevalent cause of moderate visual loss in patients with diabetes.(1)

Treatment options for DME include the use of focal/grid laser photocoagulation (2), intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy (3-5), intravitreal steroid therapy (6) and steroid implant insertion into the vitreous cavity (7-9).

Corticosteroids are known to be beneficial in the treatment of DME by reducing the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and other inflammatory cytokines e.g. Interleukin-6, which play a major role in pathogenesis of DME. (10).

Iluvien® (Alimera Sciences, Inc., Alpharetta, GA) is a low dose, sustained release corticosteroid insert that has recently been FDA approved for use in patients with DME. (10, 11) Structurally it is a nonbiodegradable, cylindrical polymer tube measuring 3.5x0.37 mm which releases 0.19 µg/day of Fluocinolone Acetonide. These inserts are injected into the vitreous cavity in an outpatient setting through a 25-gauge injector system which uses MedidurTM (Alimera Sciences, Inc.) technology and are found to be beneficial compared to sham treatment for up to 3 years. (10, 11) As a complication steroid implants can sometimes result in a dose dependent elevation in the intraocular pressure (IOP) which can increase the risk of glaucoma in susceptible patients. The purpose of this study is to look at post-approval safety data related to IOP after one or more injections of Iluvien as standard of care in subjects with DME.

Objectives