Aqueous vascular endothelial growth factor levels are associated with serous macular detachment secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine whether aqueous levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) are associated with developments of serous retinal detachment (SRD) secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion.


METHODS
We recruited 102 patients with branch retinal vein occlusion and 10 controls. We divided patients into two groups according to optical coherence tomography images of the macula. Forty-six of 102 patients showed SRD defined as being subretinal fluid accumulation with low reflectivity, and the remaining 56 patients presented only cystoid macular edema (CME) defined as being hyporeflective intraretinal cavities. We measured the extent of vascular leakage (disk areas) by digital fluorescein angiography and evaluated the retinal ischemia defined as capillary nonperfusion. Aqueous concentrations of VEGF and pigment epithelium-derived factor were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and compared between the two groups.


RESULTS
The incidence of major branch retinal vein occlusion was higher in the SRD group (38 of 46, 83%) than in the CME group (32 of 56, 66%, P = 0.01). The incidences of ischemic vein occlusion and macular ischemia was similar between the SRD group (18 of 46 and 20 of 46) and the CME group (20 of 56 and 24 of 56), whereas vascular leakage areas were larger in the SRD group than in the CME group (P = 0.02). Aqueous VEGF levels were higher in the SRD group than in the CME group (P < 0.001), whereas aqueous pigment epithelium-derived factor levels were similar. Vascular endothelial growth factor levels were positively correlated with pigment epithelium-derived factor levels (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that excessive increase in vascular permeability because of VEGF upregulation may contribute to the development of SRD secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion.
Park
Sung Pyo
SP
Department of Ophthalmology, Hallym University Medical School, Seoul, Korea.
Ahn
Jae Kyoun
JK
Mun
Gui Hyeong
GH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D015843:Serpins / Q000378:metabolism; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D000099174:Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor
D005136:Eye Proteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D015843:Serpins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000099174:Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor; C467484:VEGFA protein, human