J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2013 Oct;54(10):1520-1525.

Effects of Diabetic Retinopathy and Intravitreal Bevacizumab Injection on Choroidal Thickness in Diabetic Patients

• Park BJ
• Chung HW
• Kim HC

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate the effect of diabetic retinopathy on choroidal thickness and the changes of choroidal thickness after intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) in diabetic patients.
METHODS
The present study included 105 patients (105 eyes). Patients were classified into 6 groups: control group (A); no change (B), mild (C), moderate (D), and severe (E) non proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR); and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) (F), with 15 diabetic patients in each group. All patients underwent enhanced depth imaging spectraldomain optical coherence tomography (EDI OCT) to evaluate choroidal thickness. An additional 15 patients (15 eyes) with diabetic retinopathy treated with IVB were also included. These patients underwent EDI OCT before and 1 month after IVB.
RESULTS
Mean choroidal thickness was significantly thinner in the moderate and severe NPDR, and PDR groups compared with the control group. Moreover, when comparing sequential stages of diabetic retinopathy progression, the choroidal thickness in the moderate NPDR stage and PDR stage was found to be significantly thinner than in the mild and severe NPDR, respectively. Additionally, choroidal thickness was 187.3 microm before IVB and significantly decreased to 168.9 microm 1 month after IVB (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Choroidal thickness is related to the severity of diabetic retinopathy and is significantly decreased after IVB.

Keyword

Bevacizumab; Choroidal Thickness; Diabetic Retinopathy; Enhanced Depth Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography

MeSH Terms

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Choroid*
Diabetic Retinopathy*
Humans
Tomography, Optical Coherence
Bevacizumab
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized

Figure

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  Figure 1. The choroid is seen in cross-section using EDI- OCT. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was measured vertically from the outer border of the retinal pigment epithelium to the inner border of the sclera.

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  Figure 2. Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness according to severity of diabetic retinopathy.

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  Figure 3. Representative case of a 51-year-old man with diabetic macular edema was treated with IVB. (A) The VA was 20/30, and the subfoveal choroidal thickness was 176 μm, at initial visit. (B) At one month after first IVB, the VA was improved to 20/25. The subfoveal choroidal thickness was 164 μm.

Reference

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