Early effects of intravitreal anti-VEGF agents on cornea and visual acuity in patients with diabetic retinopathy

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the early effects of intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents on the cornea and visual acuity in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods

This retrospective study enrolled patients who were administered conbercept or ranibizumab to treat DR. Fundus photograph, fluorescein angiograph, and optical coherence tomography were preoperatively performed. The patients were classified into two groups: nonproliferative DR (NPDR) and PDR. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), specular microscopy, central corneal thickness (CCT), and intraocular pressure were obtained before injection and at 1 day and 7 days after injection. The effects of anti-VEGF agents on BCVA and CCT were compared between the groups receiving conbercept and ranibizumab and between NPDR and PDR eyes.

Results

A total 38 eyes (30 patients) were enrolled in this study. Twenty-one eyes received conbercept, and 17 eyes received ranibizumab. Twenty eyes were classified as NPDR and 18 eyes as PDR. No significant differences were found between the groups receiving conbercept and ranibizumab in the increase in BCVA nor in the increase of CCT at 1 day and 7 days after injection. As compared with NPDR eyes, PDR eyes demonstrated a significantly greater increase in CCT (−5.3 ± 3.7 vs. 6.5 ± 2.9 μm, P = 0.02 < 0.05) but not in BCVA (P = 0.33) at 1 day after injection. At 7 days after injection, no significant differences were found in the increase in BCVA nor in the increase of CCT between NPDR eyes and PDR eyes.

Conclusion

Intravitreal administration of anti-VEGF agents could cause a small but significant greater increase in CCT in PDR than in NPDR eyes in the early period. In patients with DR, no significant difference was found between conbercept and ranibizumab in the early effects on the visual acuity nor in the cornea.

Keywords:

• Diabetic retinopathy
• conbercept
• ranibizumab
• corneal central thickness
• corneal edema
• proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Authors’ contributions

Xuanli Liu acquired the data and drafted the article. Wei Shen interpreted of data and revised it critically. Wei Xia revised the manuscript. Peirong Lu reviewed the manuscript and gave final approval of the version to be submitted.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All participants a were informed the purpose of the project and gave their consent to be recruited to this study, which was approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated hospital of Soochow University, Soochow, China. The performance of this study was followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Data availability and materials

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in Mendeley Data at https://doi:10.17632/pdpfhgfmf4.1.

Additional information

Funding

Supported by the Department of ophthalmology in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.