Progression of proliferative diabetic retinopathy can be slowed down to a significant extent when a corticosteroid, triamcinolone, is directly injected into the eye. This finding was disclosed by researchers led by specialists at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute.

It is important to note here that proliferative diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that usually results in blindness.

From News-Medical.Net:

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is marked by the growth of new and unwanted blood vessels on the optic nerve in the back of the eye (which communicates information from the retina to the brain) or another area of the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye. Despite advances in treating both diabetes and its complications, about 700,000 Americans have proliferative diabetic retinopathy and 63,000 new cases develop each year.

In the study, each patient’s eyes were randomly assigned to receive either a laser treatment (photocoagulation) for diabetic macular edema or an injection (1 or 4 milligrams) of triamcinolone acetonide directly into the eye as often as every four months.

According to Bressler, lead author of the study, there was some evidence that steroids could improve vision outcomes from diabetic macular edema (DME), swelling of the center of the retina, the part of the retina used for reading or driving. Study results showed that steroids were not superior to laser treatments for DME.

Neil M. Bressler, the James P. Gills Professor of Ophthalmology and chief of the Retina Division of the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, chair of the government-sponsored Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network, said that the condition can be safely and effectively treated with lasers.