Correlation between macular vessel density and number of intravitreal anti-VEGF agents for macular edema associated with branch retinal vein occlusion

Ryo Tomita,Kensuke Goto,Kentaro Yamamoto,Eimei Ra,Hiroko Terasaki,Takeshi Iwase

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-52732-2

Ryo Tomita, Kensuke Goto + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52732-2

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Nov 8, 2019
Citations: 10	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Nagoya University, Akita University

Abstract

We evaluated whether the reduction of macular vessel density was correlated with the number of intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents in eyes with a branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). The mean vessel density was determined by optical coherence tomography angiography in 29 eyes with macular edema associated with a BRVO. Our results showed that the mean vessel density in the group that had a resolution of the macular edema after one anti-VEGF injection was significantly higher than group that had a recurrence of the macular edema (P = 0.028). Single regression analysis showed that the number of intravitreal injections was significantly correlated with the reduction of the modified vessel density (r = −0.421, P = 0.023) and systemic hypertension (r = 0.377, P = 0.044). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the reduction of the modified vessel density (β = −0.442, P = 0.009) and hypertension (β = 0.403, P = 0.016) were independent factors associated with the number of intravitreal injections. We conclude that the vessel density reduction can be used to predict whether recurrences of the macular edema will develop after the initial anti-VEGF injection in eyes with macular edema associated with a BRVO.

Highlights

We evaluated whether the reduction of macular vessel density was correlated with the number of intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents in eyes with a branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO)
Six eyes were treated with intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR), and 23 were treated with intravitreal aflibercept (IVA)
We evaluated the reduction of macular vessel density and found that the reduction of the modified vessel density in the resolved group was significantly higher than that in the recurrence group

Summary

Introduction

We evaluated whether the reduction of macular vessel density was correlated with the number of intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents in eyes with a branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). We conclude that the vessel density reduction can be used to predict whether recurrences of the macular edema will develop after the initial anti-VEGF injection in eyes with macular edema associated with a BRVO. It was recently reported that the intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents, such as bevacizumab[9,10], ranibizumab[11], or aflibercept[12], were more effective in resolving the macular edema and improving the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) than the other treatments. Earlier studies have shown that OCTA is a reliable technique to evaluate vascular disorders including those associated with a BRVO20–22

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