Open AccessVascular endothelial growth factor blocking agents in retinal vein occlusion
Author(s) -
C R Canning
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
oman journal of ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.306
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 0974-7842
pISSN - 0974-620X
DOI - 10.4103/0974-620x.43313
Subject(s) - medicine , occlusion , branch retinal vein occlusion , blocking (statistics) , retinal vein , ophthalmology , vascular endothelial growth factor , vein , central retinal vein occlusion , isolation (microbiology) , visual acuity , clinical trial , surgery , vegf receptors , macular edema , bioinformatics , statistics , mathematics , biology
This paper summarises the current status of the use of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) blocking agents in retinal vein occlusion. There have been no randomised controlled trials comparing this treatment with the current standard treatment (largely laser) so the lower grade evidence of single treatment case series and anecdotal reports are discussed. VEGF blockers are good at reducing macular oedema in the short term, do improve visual acuity in many cases, and do not seem to adversely affect the long term revascularisation that is necessary to overcome the vein occlusion. VEGF blocking agents are not used in isolation in this condition - they will remain an adjunct to systemic and other local treatments. The literature was reviewed in online searches of Embase and Ovid and the papers quoted are a representative sample of a larger body of publications