Successful Treatment of Chronic Pseudophakic Macular Edema (Irvine-Gass Syndrome) with Interferon Alpha: A Report of Three Cases

Abstract

Purpose: To describe treatment of chronic Irvine-Gass syndrome (CME) with interferon (IFN) alpha.

Methods: Interventional retrospective case series. IFN alpha-2a was administered at a dose of 3 million IU/day subcutaneously for 4 weeks, and was tapered thereafter. Treatment efficacy was assessed by best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and by optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Results: Three patients (4 eyes) with chronic Irvine-Gass syndrome were treated. Ineffective pretreatment included local and systemic corticosteroids. Within 4 weeks, IFN alpha led to resolution of CME in all eyes. BCVA improved in 3 eyes and remained unchanged in 1 eye. During follow-up of 3–11 months no relapse of CME occurred. No systemic or local side effects were noted.

Conclusions: IFN alpha has been demonstrated to be a successful and well-tolerated treatment option for resistant chronic pseudophakic CME. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the role of IFN alpha in Irvine-Gass syndrome.

Keywords:

• interferon alpha
• Irvine-Gass syndrome
• macular edema
• pseudophakia
• treatment

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.