scholarly journals The Usefulness of Serum Sorbitol and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A in Predicting Diabetic Retinopathy as Compared to Optical Coherence Tomography

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49
Author(s):  
Sanaa Gadbaan Hama Almandlawi ◽  
Muhanad Salah Mawlood

Background: No specific and sufficient diagnostic biomarkers are currently available for predicting diabetic retinopathy (DR). Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the validity of serum sorbitol and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) in diagnosing DR and differentiating it from diabetes without retinopathy (DNR). The study also investigated the diagnostic efficiency of these biomarkers when compared to optical coherence tomography OCT. Methods: A cross-sectional study included 164 diabetes mellitus patients: 30 patients with no retinopathy (the control group), 86 patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and 48 patients with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (PDR). Patients were referred to the Layla Qasim Diabetic Center between November 2016 and October 2017 and an ophthalmologist established a DR diagnosis using OCT. Serum sorbitol and serum VEGF-A were measured for all patients. Results: By using study biomarkers, the cut-off values of VEGF-A (124.7 ng/ml) and sorbitol (0.3112 mg/ml) were established, and their validity parameters. For sorbitol, the values were as follows: specificity was 75.4, the sensitivity was 80 and 68.3% of observed agreement with the results of the OCT technique. For VEGF-A, the specificity was 73.1 the sensitivity was 80 and 76.2% of the observed agreement. The combined parallel test was applied as negative if both the tests were negative or as positive if either of the tests was positive: a highly significant statistical agreement (Kappa test p <0.001) was found with the gold standard diagnosis (OCT), with 85.4% of observed agreement. Conclusion: A combination of serum sorbitol and VEGF-A for diagnosing DR and for differentiating DR from DNR patients exhibits a significant agreement with an OCT diagnosis.

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Libuse Krizova ◽  
Marta Kalousova ◽  
Ales Antonin Kubena ◽  
Oldrich Chrapek ◽  
Barbora Chrapkova ◽  
...  

Purpose. We investigated two factors linked to diabetic macular edema (DME), vitreous and serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and uric acid (UA) in patients with DME, and compared the results with changes in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and visual acuity (VA).Methods. A prospective study of 29 eyes, 16 cystoid DME and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) and 13 nondiabetic controls. Biochemical analysis of vitreous and serum samples was performed and OCT scans were graded according to central retinal thickness (CRT), cube volume (CV), cube average thickness (CAT), and serous retinal detachment (SRD).Results. In DME group, intravitreal concentrations of VEGF (p<0.001), UA (p=0.038), and total protein (p<0.001) were significantly higher than in control group. In DME subjects, intravitreal UA correlated significantly with intravitreal VEGF (ƍ= 0.559,p=0.03) but not with total vitreous protein and serum UA. Increased intravitreal VEGF in DME group correlated with increase in CV (ƍ= 0.515/p=0.041). None of the OCT parameters correlated with the VA.Conclusions. The results suggest that the CV might be assessor of anti-VEGF therapy efficacy. Second, apart from VEGF, the role of UA in the pathogenesis and progression of DR should be considered.


Author(s):  
Felipe F. Conti ◽  
Weilin Song ◽  
Eduardo B. Rodrigues ◽  
Rishi P. Singh

Abstract Background Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) enables detailed, non-invasive assessment of ocular vasculature. This study uses OCTA imaging to evaluate choriocapillaris and retinal capillary perfusion density (CPD) changes in diabetic retinopathy following anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment. Methods Records of 38 eyes at a single institution were reviewed, grouped as non-diabetic controls (19 eyes), diabetes mellitus patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR, 19 eyes) and macular edema (DME). DR eyes were imaged at baseline, 6-months and 12-months after anti-VEGF treatment. Quantitative analyses assessed CPD of the choriocapillaris and retinal plexus. Results DR eyes showed decreased choriocapillaris whole-image CPD (62.6 ± 6.1 vs. 68.4 ± 5.1, p < 0.003), foveal CPD (61.2 ± 7.4 vs. 66.3 ± 9.8, p < 0.014), and parafoveal CPD (61.9 ± 6.6 vs. 68.2 ± 4.8, p < 0.002) at baseline. DR eyes also showed decreased retinal density, including whole-image CPD (46.9 ± 5.1 vs. 50.7 ± 5.6, p < 0.04), foveal CPD (27.6 ± 5.9 vs. 34.1 ± 6.1, p < 0.002), and parafoveal CPD (49.0 ± 5.6 vs. 53.1 ± 6.0, p < 0.011). Following 12 months of anti-VEGF treatment, no changes to retinal or choriocapillaris or CPD were observed. Retinal central subfield thickness decreased (397.1 ± 93.2 µm vs. 294.2 ± 71.5 µm, p < 0.005). Lastly, FAZ area (0.307 ± 0.133 mm2 vs. 0.184 ± 0.058 mm2, p = 0.008) and perimeter (2.415 ± 0.692 mm2 vs. 1.753 ± 0.408 mm2, p = 0.002) were increased in DR eyes at baseline. No changes to FAZ area or perimeter were seen with anti-VEGF treatment in DR eyes. Conclusions Compared to control, choriocapillaris and retinal CPD are reduced in DR, while FAZ area and perimeter are increased. No retinal capillary or choriocapillaris CPD changes were observed in DR eyes following anti-VEGF treatment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 513 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cordeiro Sousa ◽  
Inês Leal ◽  
João Costa ◽  
António Vaz-Carneiro

Postoperative vitreous hemorrhage is a complication following vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy, delaying visual recovery and making fundus examination and disease follow-up more difficult. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs such as bevacizumab, when injected in the vitreous cavity, reduce vascular proliferation and their use has been proposed to reduce the incidence of postoperative vitreous hemorrhage. The authors of this Cochrane systematic review evaluated all randomized controlled trials on the pre- or intraoperative use of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor to reduce postoperative vitreous hemorrhage occurrence after vitrectomy in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The results suggested that the use of intravitreal bevacizumab was effective in reducing early postoperative vitreous hemorrhage (i.e. at four weeks) occurrence, with a good safety profile. This work aims to summarize and discuss the findings and clinical implications of this Cochrane systematic review.


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