Anti-VEGF reduces inflammatory features in macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion
Authors:   Department of Ophthalmology, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, Jiangsu Province, China, Qin Hai-Feng , Zhang Chao-Yang ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People&#x2019;s Hospital), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200080, China; National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Luo Da-Wei ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People&#x2019;s Hospital), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200080, China; National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Qin Shi-Yue ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, Jiangsu Province, China, Wu Jing ,   Shanghai Key Laboratory of Ocular Fundus Diseases, Xie Hai ,   Shanghai Key Laboratory of Ocular Fundus Diseases, Zhang Jing-Ting ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People&#x2019;s Hospital), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200080, China; National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Qiu Qing-Hua ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People&#x2019;s Hospital), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200080, China; National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases; Shanghai Engineering Center for Visual Science and Photomedicine, Liu Kun ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People&#x2019;s Hospital), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200080, China; National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Xu Guo-Tong ,   Shanghai Key Laboratory of Ocular Fundus Diseases, Xu Guo-Xu ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, Jiangsu Province, China, Zhang Jing-Fa ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People&#x2019;s Hospital), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200080, China; National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases
Published: July 2022

AIM: To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO-ME).
METHODS: Twenty-eight eyes from twenty-eight treatment-naïve patients (14 males and 14 females) with RVO-ME were included in this retrospective study. The retinal vein occlusion (RVO) was comprised of both central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO, n=14) and branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO, n=14). Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF reagents were administered monthly for three consecutive months, in which 18 patients were injected with ranibizumab and 10 patients were injected with conbercept. All eyes were imaged with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) at baseline and 1wk after monthly intravitreal anti-VEGF injection. The visual acuity (VA), central macular thickness (CMT), the number of hyperreflective foci (HRF) recognized as an inflammatory sign in OCT images, and non-perfusion area (NPA), were compared before and after anti-VEGF treatments.
RESULTS: The mean interval between baseline and follow-up was 29.4±0.79 (range, 27-48)d. Compared with the baseline, the VA improved (logMAR 1.5±0.1 vs 0.8±0.1, P<0.05) and CMT decreased (460±34.0 μm vs 268.8±12.0 μm, P<0.05), significantly, after anti-VEGF treatment. The number of HRF was decreased significantly (76.5±4.8 vs 47.8±4.3, P<0.05) after anti-VEGF treatment.
CONCLUSION: Anti-VEGF therapy is effective in treating RVO-ME. The mechanisms for the decreased HRF and the reduction of NPA by anti-VEGF therapy merits further exploration.