Intravitreal Triamcinolone Acetonide for Macular Edema in HLA-B27 Negative Ankylosing Spondylitis

Abstract

We report a case of a human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27)-negative patient with cystoid macular edema (CME) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) after treatment with triamcinolone acetonide. The patient complained of deterioration of visual acuity of the right eye during the last 10 days. At presentation visual acuity of the right eye was 0.2, and the ophthalmic examination did not reveal any sign of active uveitis. Fluorescein angiography (FA) and ocular coherent tomography (OCT) showed CME. The left eye was normal with a visual acuity of 0.9. Eight weeks after intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide, visual acuity improved to 0.8 and OCT revealed regression of macular edema. Six months later no recurrence was observed. Our case report indicates for the first time that CME may occur in AS independently of the presence of HLA-B27 and intraocular inflammation. Intravitreal use of triamcinolone acetonide can reduce macular edema and restore visual acuity.