Implant Eases Chronic Eye Condition

FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- A tiny implant that slowly delivers medication provides relief for people with severe uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease that can cause pain, sensitivity to light, visual impairment and, in the worst cases, blindness.

The implant, called Retisert, delivers steroidal medication over two to three years and helps relieve inflammation. This method of treatment can free patients from having to take multiple doses of medication throughout the day and from the need for injections of drugs directly into the eye area when uveitis flares up, according to a Duke University expert who conducted several clinical trials of Retisert.

However, use of this implant, which is about the size of a grain of rice, may lead to the development of cataracts or intraocular pressure.

"The implant makes a big difference in treatment because it allows us to give a very small, targeted dose of the medication directly where it needs to go, which is inside the eye," Dr. Glenn Jaffe, an ophthalmologist and director of the uveitis program at Duke University Eye Center, said in a prepared statement.

"We no longer have to give a person large doses of medicine, which basically treat the entire body, in order to reach the eye," he noted.

This consistent delivery of medication to the eye can reduce inflammation without causing side effects elsewhere in the body, Jaffe said.

"We can potentially get people off all the other medications they have needed for years, many of which cause significant side effects and are uncomfortable, making the patient fairly miserable," he said.

Uveitis affects about 800,000 people worldwide and about 175,000 Americans have been diagnosed with the disease.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about uveitis.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Duke University, news release, Jan. 17, 2006

Last Updated: Jan. 20, 2006