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Table 1 Characteristics of the included studies

From: Intravitreal corticosteroids for diabetic macular edema: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

First author (year)

Design (region)

Agea (years)

Intervention description

Intervention category

Number of eyes

Outcome used in network meta-analysisb

Sutter (2004) [39]

Single-center (Australia)

64

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

33

3-month BCVA change (short-term)

3-month CMT change (short-term)

Subconjunctival injection of saline once

Control

32

Spandau (2005) [40]

Single-center (Germany)

70

Intravitreal injection of 2 mg TA once

TA injection (< 4 mg)

8

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

IOP change at study end (mean follow-up = 6.6 months, short-term)c

Intravitreal injection of 5 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

10

Intravitreal injection of 13 mg TA once

TA injection (≥ 8 mg)

9

Audren (2006) [41]

Single-center (France)

60

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

17

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

6-month IOP change (short-term)

No injection

Control

17

Audren (2006) [42]

Single-center (France)

64

Intravitreal injection of 2 mg TA once

TA injection (< 4 mg)

16

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

6-month IOP change (short-term)

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

16

Gillies (2006) [43]

Single-center (Australia)

64

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA multiple times (median times of treatment = 3)

TA injection (4 mg, multiple times)

31

2-year BCVA change (long-term)

Subconjunctival injection of saline multiple times

Control

29

Jonas (2006) [44]

Single-center (Germany)

66

Intravitreal injection of 20 mg TA once

TA injection (≥ 8 mg)

28

BCVA change at study end (mean follow-up = 10 months, short-term)c

IOP change at study end (mean follow-up = 10 months, short-term)c

No injection

Control

12

Lam (2007) [45]d

Multicenter (China)

65

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

23

26-week BCVA change (short-term)

26-week CMT change (short-term)

Intravitreal injection of 8 mg TA once

TA injection (≥ 8 mg)

20

Dehghan (2008) [46]

Single-center (Iran)

62

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

42

4-month BCVA change (short-term)

4-month CMT change (short-term)

Subconjunctival injection of 2% lidocaine once

Control

37

Hauser (2008) [47]e

Single-center (Israel)

67

Intravitreal injection of 2 mg TA once

TA injection (< 4 mg)

17

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

6-month IOP change (short-term)

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

13

Kim (2008) [48]

Multicenter (United States)

61

Intravitreal injection of 2 mg TA once

TA injection (< 4 mg)

13

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

15

Larsson (2009) [49]

Single-center (Australia)

62

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

16

3-month BCVA change (short-term)

Subconjunctival injection of saline once

Control

16

Campochiaro (2010) [50]

Multicenter (United States)

67

Intravitreal insertion of FA implant (0.2 µg/day)

FA implant (0.2 µg/day)

20

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

1-year BCVA change (long-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

6-month IOP change (short-term)

Intravitreal insertion of FA implant (0.5 µg/day)

FA implant (0.5 µg/day)

17

Chan (2010) [51]

Multicenter (China)

67

Intravitreal injection of 400 µg DEX once

DEX injection (400 µg)

6

Not included in network meta-analysis due to the unique intervention that cannot connect with other treatments

Intravitreal injection of 800 µg DEX once

DEX injection (800 µg)

6

Campochiaro (2011, 2012) [52, 54]

Multicenter (Worldwide)

63

Intravitreal insertion of FA implant (0.2 µg/day)

FA implant (0.2 µg/day)

375

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

3-year BCVA change (long-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

Intravitreal insertion of FA implant (0.5 µg/day)

FA implant (0.5 µg/day)

393

Sham injection

Control

185

Pearson (2011) [53]

Multicenter (United States)

65

Intravitreal insertion of FA implant (0.59 µg/day)

FA implant (0.5 µg/day)

127

6-month CMT change (short-term)

Standard of care

Control

69

Boyer (2014) and Danis (2016) [55, 57]

Multicenter (Worldwide)

62

Intravitreal insertion of DEX implant (350 µg)

DEX implant (350 µg)

347

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

3-year BCVA change (long-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

Intravitreal insertion of DEX implant (700 µg)

DEX implant (700 µg)

351

Sham injection

Control

350

Lodhi (2015) [56]

Single-center (India)

55

Intravitreal injection of 1 mg TA once

TA injection (< 4 mg)

20

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

6-month IOP change (short-term)

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

20

Mylonas (2016) [58]

Multicenter (Europe)

72

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

14

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

Intravitreal insertion of DEX implant (700 µg)

DEX implant (700 µg)

15

Zhou (2016) [59]

Single-center (China)

53

Intravitreal injection of 2 mg TA once

TA injection (< 4 mg)

27

6-month BCVA change (short-term)

6-month CMT change (short-term)

Intravitreal injection of 4 mg TA once

TA injection (4–8 mg)

27

  1. TA triamcinolone acetonide; BCVA best-corrected visual acuity; CMT central macular thickness; IOP intraocular pressure; FA fluocinolone acetonide; DEX dexamethasone
  2. aMean or median age of the enrolled patients in the studies
  3. bThe time listed in this column (3-month, 6-month, etc.) corresponds to the time of the outcome assessment after the first intravitreal corticosteroid injection/implantation
  4. cThese outcomes were assessed at the study end. We regarded them as short-term outcomes, considering that the mean follow-up time was less than 1 year
  5. dIn this study, we did not include the group with 6 mg TA because the baseline BCVA of this group was significantly worse than that of the 4 mg and 8 mg groups
  6. eIn this study, we did not include the group with 1 mg TA because the baseline BCVA of this group was significantly worse than that of the 2 mg and 4 mg groups
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Eye and Vision

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