Results of treatment of ocular toxoplasmosis with injectable corticosteroids.

Sixty-seven patients with toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis who were treated with periocular injections of depot forms of corticosteroids were studied in an attempt to determine (1) whether patients who did poorly on this regimen could be differentiated predictively from those who responded in a more favorable fashion, and (2) whether a treatment regimen that would allow the safe use of periocular depot corticosteroids in patients with toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis could be delineated. The study did not reveal any reliable way of predicting which patients would be good risks for the use of periocular injections of depot corticosteroids. It does suggest that the concurrent use of antitoxoplasma agents might protect patients in such a way that periocular depot corticosteroids would not worsen their disease. For the reasons outlined, the use of periocular injections of depot corticosteroids in toxoplasmic uveitis must be approached with great caution in the future.