Lucentis for Inflammatory Macular Edema Trial

Uveitis is an inflammation (swelling and irritation) inside the eye, affecting the uvea. The uvea is the layer of the eye between the sclera and the retina and provides most of the blood supply to the retina. Uveitis is an important cause of visual loss. There are 30,000 new cases of legal blindness each year due to uveitis in the U.S. Sight-threatening complications associated with uveitis include macular edema, which may persist even when inflammation is controlled. The only current treatment for cystoid macular edema (CME) in uveitis patients is oral or regional steroid injections. For patients who don't respond to steroids or who are unable to tolerate steroid therapy, there are no other medical treatments. The aim of this study is to determine if ranibizumab, an FDA-approved treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, is an effective treatment for those patients with uveitis-induced CME who are unable to be treated with or non-responsive to steroids.