Abstract
Purpose: :
There is a possible correlation between posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and intraocular neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration. It has also been reported that the presence of PVD results in a decrease in the concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in an animal model. Using human subjects, this study discusses the relationship between the presence of PVD on VEGF concentration in ocular anterior chamber fluids.
Methods: :
We determined the concentration of VEGF with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay while measuring anterior chamber fluids collected from 25 cataract surgery operated eyes of 17 subjects with no ocular fundus disease. We measured the presence of PVD preoperatively by B-mode ultrasound, and regarded the eyes in which complete PVD was observed as PVD(+) and the others as PVD(–). We also measured the axial length by A-mode ultrasound. Subsequently, we performed the collection of anterior chamber fluids only for the patients from whom we had obtained informed consent, along with approval from the ethics committee of Tokyo KoseiNenkin Hospital.
Results: :
Nine eyes of 7 patients, ages 71 ± 13 (mean ± SD) were included into the PVD(–) group; 16 eyes of 11 patients, ages 74 ± 9 (mean ± SD) were included into the PVD(+) group. No significant age difference was found between the two groups ( P = 0.1063, Student's t-test). The concentration of VEGF was 371 ± 113pg/ml and 227 ± 146pg/ml in the PVD(–) and PVD(+) groups, respectively, ( P = 0.0149, Mann-Whitney U test). In light of axial length, PVD(–) and PVD(+) groups showed 23.3 ± 0.6 mm and 24.5 ± 1.9 mm, respectively, indicating no significant difference between the two groups ( P = 0.1440, Mann-Whitney U test)
Conclusions: :
A decrease in the VEGF concentration was observed in patients in whom we observed PVD.
Keywords: vascular endothelial growth factor • vitreous