Fox News: New Impact Saves Vision
May 13, 2015
Eye problems can arise as a complications of diabetes. Fox News recently featured a story about a patient with diabetic macular edema, a diabetes-related condition in which blood vessels in the eye leak, leading to vision loss. As the reporter explains, the only treatment for diabetic macular edema has been frequent steroid injections into the eye. But now an implant called Iluvien is available. This implant sits at the bottom of the eye, where the patients can't see it, and continuously releases corticosteroid. Iluvien lasts for three years before it needs to be replaced. The patient in the Fox story got his vision back within a few days of receiving the implant.
Iluvien is produced by Alimera, a Domain portfolio company. Fluocinolone acetonide, the corticosteroid released by the Iluvien device, likely receives diabetes macular edema by inhibiting inflammation, swelling, blood vessel dilation, scar formation, and other damaging cellular processes.