The treatment used by UZ Brussel is a steroid implant which is injected into the eye. Once installed, it delivers medicine to the eye”continuously for three years“, certifies the press release from UZ Brussel, a hospital in Brussels dependent on the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
Patients who have undergone this treatment will no longer have to submit to a monthly appointment at the hospital for their injection into the eye.
What is diabetic macular edema
Diabetic macular edema is a consequence of diabetic retinopathy, a deterioration of the retina in diabetics. This deterioration can appear in both type I and type II diabetics. When edema appears, it causes the macula, the area in the center of the retina, to fill with fluid. As a result, vision becomes blurry.
The new treatment for diabetic macular edema is part of “a holistic approach to diabetes“, underlines the UZ Brussel. Recently, the treatment became reimbursable by the health insurance fund in the event that a patient does not tolerate other treatments well.