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Effect of Intravitreal Injection of Methotrexate on Human Corneal Endothelial Cells
Khalil Ghasemi Falavarjani1, Sara Golabi, Ali Hadavandkhani
1Eye Research Center, Rassoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Purpose:
To evaluate the toxic effect of intravitreal methotrexate on human corneal endothelium.
Methods:
In this prospective noncomparative interventional case series, intravitreal injection of 400 μg methotrexate was performed in eyes with persistent diabetic macular edema. Corneal endothelial cell analyses and central corneal thickness measurements were performed before and 1, 3, and 6 months after injections, using noncontact specular microscopy.
Results:
Twenty one eyes of 18 patients with a mean age of 60.5 ± 6.8 years were evaluated. No statistically significant difference was found in endothelial cell density, coefficient of variation, average cell area, hexagonality, and central corneal thickness measurements before and after injections (P = 0.70, 0.39, 0.43, 0.64, and 0.67, respectively).
Conclusions:
In this 6-month follow-up study, intravitreal injection of 400 μg methotrexate had no significant effect on corneal endothelial cell measurements performed by specular microscopy.
