Changes in ganglion cell complex thickness in patients treated with intravitreal anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor therapy

Abstract

AbstractPurpose To evaluate the effect of repeated intravitreal injections of anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) on the thickness of the ganglion cell complex(GCC) in patients with retinal diseases.Methods This is a retrospective study of 91 patient with injections for age‐related macular degeneration(AMD), diabetic retinopathy(DMR), or retinal vein occlusion(RVO), who received more than three anti‐VEGF injections. For this study, Ganglion cell complex thickness was measured by SD‐OCT. The measurements of GCC thickness were made at the fovea and at 3 points nasal and 3 points temporal to the fovea, each separated by a distance of 500 microns. We also evaluated the correlation between changes in ganglion cell complex and other factors including intraocular pressure (IOP), injection times, and the type of disease.Results After multiple intravitreal anti‐VEGF treatments, ganglion cell complex thickness decreased from the initial GCC thickness. Changes of GCC thickness(final GCC thickness ‐ initial GCC thickness) were ‐7.47 ± 22.81, ‐4.93 ± 21.93, ‐3.60 ± 33.39, ‐1.19 ± 9.38, ‐9.10 ± 32.89, ‐0.93 ± 24.44 and ‐2.57 ± 24.78 at T 1500, T 1000, T 500, the fovea, N 500, N 1000 and N 1500, respectively. And mean GCC thickness was changed from 98.56 ± 17.04 to 94.30 ± 14.49 (p= 0.15). When classified by disease, the decrease in GCC thickness was statistically significant in RVO patients. The number of injections was found to have no correlation with changes in GCC thickness.Conclusion Multiple intravitreal injections of anti‐VEGF lead to a significant change in GCC thickness. But, the number of injections did not appear to adversely affect GCC thickness.