Extended real-world experience with the ILUVIEN® (fluocinolone acetonide) implant in the United Kingdom: 3-year results from the Medisoft® audit study

Background This study aimed to assess the long-term effectiveness of the 0.2 μg/day fluocinolone acetonide (FAc) implant over ≥3 years for patients with diabetic macular oedema. Methods A retrospective audit of pseudo-anonymised data from patients with chronic diabetic macular oedema (cDMO) and treated with the FAc implant across 14 UK clinical sites. Safety and clinical effectiveness were measured. Results Two-hundred and fifty-six eyes had ≥3 years of follow-up (mean 4.28 years), during which a mean of 1.14 FAc implants were used per eye. Mean best-recorded visual acuity (BRVA) increased from 52.6 to 56.7 letters at month 3 and remained stable thereafter; this trend was also seen in pseudophakic eyes. The proportion of patients attaining a BRVA ≥6/12 increased from 17% at baseline to 27% 1 month after FAc implant and remained stable above 30% from month 12 onwards. Eyes with no prior history of intraocular pressure (IOP)-related events required significantly less treatment-emergent IOP-lowering medication than those with a prior history of IOP events (17.9% vs. 50.0% of eyes; p