Proactive treatment regimen with dexamethasone implant for diabetic and post-occlusive macular oedema: the ProDEX-2 study

Pasquale Viggiano; Tunde Peto; Mariagrazia Pignataro; Alba Chiara Termite; Giacomo Boscia; Maria Oliva Grassi; Maria G Malerba; Federica Evangelista; Sara Mavaddati; Stefano Dore; Giovanni Alessio; Stela Vujosevic; Francesco Boscia

doi:10.1136/bjo-2025-328550

Proactive treatment regimen with dexamethasone implant for diabetic and post-occlusive macular oedema: the ProDEX-2 study

Pasquale Viggiano^*
, Tunde Peto
, Mariagrazia Pignataro
, Alba Chiara Termite
, Giacomo Boscia
, Maria Oliva Grassi
, Maria G Malerba
, Federica Evangelista
, Sara Mavaddati
, Stefano Dore
, Giovanni Alessio
, Stela Vujosevic
, Francesco Boscia

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of proactive treatment with intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX-implant) at fixed 4-month intervals in treatment-naïve patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO), stratified by baseline visual acuity. Methods: Sixty-one treatment-naïve eyes (35 DMO, 26 RVO) received DEX-implant at 4-month intervals with possible adjustment (3.5–4.5 months) based on anatomical response. Patients were stratified by baseline visual acuity (

Original language	English
Journal	British Journal of Ophthalmology
Early online date	05 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo-2025-328550
Publication status	Early online date - 05 Jun 2026

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UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Macula
Retina

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Proactive treatment regimen with dexamethasone implant for diabetic and post-occlusive macular oedema: the ProDEX-2 study
Copyright 2026 the authors. This is an accepted manuscript distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Accepted author manuscript, 287 KBLicence: CC BY

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Viggiano, P., Peto, T., Pignataro, M., Termite, A. C., Boscia, G., Grassi, M. O., Malerba, M. G., Evangelista, F., Mavaddati, S., Dore, S., Alessio, G., Vujosevic, S., & Boscia, F. (2026). Proactive treatment regimen with dexamethasone implant for diabetic and post-occlusive macular oedema: the ProDEX-2 study. British Journal of Ophthalmology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo-2025-328550

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abstract = "Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of proactive treatment with intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX-implant) at fixed 4-month intervals in treatment-na{\"i}ve patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO), stratified by baseline visual acuity. Methods: Sixty-one treatment-na{\"i}ve eyes (35 DMO, 26 RVO) received DEX-implant at 4-month intervals with possible adjustment (3.5{\textendash}4.5 months) based on anatomical response. Patients were stratified by baseline visual acuity (",

keywords = "Macula, Retina",

author = "Pasquale Viggiano and Tunde Peto and Mariagrazia Pignataro and Termite, \{Alba Chiara\} and Giacomo Boscia and Grassi, \{Maria Oliva\} and Malerba, \{Maria G\} and Federica Evangelista and Sara Mavaddati and Stefano Dore and Giovanni Alessio and Stela Vujosevic and Francesco Boscia",

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T1 - Proactive treatment regimen with dexamethasone implant for diabetic and post-occlusive macular oedema: the ProDEX-2 study

AU - Viggiano, Pasquale

AU - Peto, Tunde

AU - Pignataro, Mariagrazia

AU - Termite, Alba Chiara

AU - Boscia, Giacomo

AU - Grassi, Maria Oliva

AU - Malerba, Maria G

AU - Evangelista, Federica

AU - Mavaddati, Sara

AU - Dore, Stefano

AU - Alessio, Giovanni

AU - Vujosevic, Stela

AU - Boscia, Francesco

PY - 2026/6/5

Y1 - 2026/6/5

N2 - Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of proactive treatment with intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX-implant) at fixed 4-month intervals in treatment-naïve patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO), stratified by baseline visual acuity. Methods: Sixty-one treatment-naïve eyes (35 DMO, 26 RVO) received DEX-implant at 4-month intervals with possible adjustment (3.5–4.5 months) based on anatomical response. Patients were stratified by baseline visual acuity (

AB - Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of proactive treatment with intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX-implant) at fixed 4-month intervals in treatment-naïve patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO), stratified by baseline visual acuity. Methods: Sixty-one treatment-naïve eyes (35 DMO, 26 RVO) received DEX-implant at 4-month intervals with possible adjustment (3.5–4.5 months) based on anatomical response. Patients were stratified by baseline visual acuity (

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KW - Retina

U2 - 10.1136/bjo-2025-328550

DO - 10.1136/bjo-2025-328550

M3 - Article

SN - 0007-1161

JO - British Journal of Ophthalmology

JF - British Journal of Ophthalmology

ER -

Proactive treatment regimen with dexamethasone implant for diabetic and post-occlusive macular oedema: the ProDEX-2 study

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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