[Anti-VEGF therapy in the treatment of anterior segment neovascularization secondary to central retinal vein...

To evaluate the benefit of anti-VEGF in the treatment of anterior segment neovascularization (ASNV), a severe complication of ischemic central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).

This is a retrospective case series of consecutive patients with ASNV secondary to CRVO treated with anti-VEGF. Ophthalmic parameters were recorded for each visit: measurement of best visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressure (IOP), iris examination, gonioscopy and fundus examination, and as necessary, fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography. Minimum follow-up was 6 months.

Nineteen patients (19 eyes) received intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF in association with panretinal photocoagulation (PRP). In patients who had uncomplicated rubeosis iridis without elevated IOP (n=6), after a mean of 3 injections, VA was stable in 4 patients and improved by two lines in 2 patients. In patients with early neovascular glaucoma (NVG) (n=13), IOP reduction was observed in all eyes within 1 week after injection but increased secondarily after an average of 45 days, although the rubeosis had definitively disappeared, which suggested that the change in IOP was independent of ASNV. After a mean of 6 injections in combination with filtering or cyclodestructive surgery, IOP finally stabilized, but VA decreased in all patients. Three patients (50%) with stage III ASNV progressed to stage IV ASNV in spite of anti-VEGF treatment.

In all eyes, anti-VEGF treatment stopped neovascularization and helped to control IOP. However, vision was preserved only in the eyes with uncomplicated rubeosis at the time of diagnosis. Since only 32% of eyes were diagnosed at this stage, the authors suggest the prevention of ASNV by careful screening and follow-up of patients at risk, and the performance of PRP in CRVO with extensive retinal non-perfusion prior to the onset of rubeosis.