Effect of intravitreal injection of dexamethasone implant on the corneal morphology of young adults with central retinal vein occlusion

AIM: To investigate the effect of intravitreal injection of dexamethasone (DEX) implants on the corneal morphology of young adults with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). METHODS: This was a retrospective study. The information of all patients was collected from the hospital information system. Patients diagnosed with CRVO were included. Corneal morphometric analysis was performed 1, 3, 6, and 12mo after the intravitreal injection of DEX. Corneal endothelial cell density (ECD), hexagonal cell ratio (HEX), and coefficient of variation (CV), central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD), anterior chamber angle (ACA), and anterior chamber volume (ACV) were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age of the 80 patients (80 eyes) with CRVO was 33.10±3.26y. The mean disease duration was 4.94±2.12mo. The ECDs before and 1, 3, 6, and 12mo after DEX injection were 2718.22±333.14, 2692.74±324.84, 2577.55±365.27, 2624.30±345.53 cells/mm², and 2604.00±321.19 cells/mm², respectively. No difference was found in ECD at 1, 6, and 12mo after the injection compared with baselines. The ECD of patients was lower than baseline at three months (P0.05), whereas the HEX and CV were not statistically significant compared with baseline (P0.05). At the 12-month follow-up, a trend toward a decrease was observed in the CCT compared with baselines among the enrolled patients, but without significant difference (P0.05). The parameters of the anterior chamber (ACD, ACA, and ACV) did not change significantly compared with baselines (P0.05). No significant difference was found in corneal morphology between single and repeated DEX implant injections. CONCLUSION: In young adults with CRVO, intravitreal injection of DEX can temporarily decrease ECD. However, the remaining corneal endothelial morphological characteristics and anterior chamber parameters are unaffected.