Abstract
Purpose: :
To assess the safety and efficacy of intravitreal injection of Pegaptanib Sodium as an adjunctive therapy to laser treatment in patients with refractory proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
Methods: :
Noncomparative, retrospective, observational cases series. This is a retrospective review of the medical records of 13 eyes of 13 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy that is refractory laser treatment. All patients were examined at Valley Retina Institute, PA, McAllen, Texas.Each eye received an intravitreal injection of 0.3 mg Pegaptanib Sodium.Assessments performed included Snellen visual acuity (VA) testing, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, fundus examination, fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Results: :
The mean age of the patients was 60 years. Of the 13 patients , 11 were female and 2 were male. 9 patients (69.2%) showed VA An overall increase in mean VA was found. All patients showed a regression of neovascularization in addition to a reduction of existing vitreous hemorrhage. In OCT imaging, mean retinal thickness decreased in the foveal and parafoveal zones. FA showed a marked reduction in size and intensity of hyperfluorescent areas. The observed morphologic effects observed on FA and OCT were associated with an improvement in VA in some but not all eyes. No significant ocular or systemic side effects were observed.
Conclusions: :
These findings suggest that intravitreal injections of Pegaptanib in patients with PDR that is refractory to laser treatment is associated with a decrease in the retinal thickness, a reduction in angiographic leakage, and an improvement in coexisting vitreous hemorrhage. Results indicate that inhibition of VEGF165 by the intravitreal injection of Pegaptanib may improve the prognosis of patients with PDR.
Keywords: diabetic retinopathy • retina • laser