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Wang Y, Wang P, Oh RY, Ratzlaff T, Rullo J, Sharma S. Changes in Scleral Thickness Following Repeated Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections. JOVR [Internet]. 2022Apr.29 [cited 2024Apr.19];17(2):196–201. Available from: https://knepublishing.com/index.php/JOVR/article/view/10790

https://doi.org/10.18502/jovr.v17i2.10790

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authors

  • Yao Wang

    Yao Wang

    Department of Ophthalmology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Patrick Wang

    Patrick Wang

    School of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Rachel Y. Oh

    Rachel Y. Oh

    School of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Timothy Ratzlaff

    Timothy Ratzlaff

    Department of Ophthalmology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Jacob Rullo

    Jacob Rullo

    Department of Ophthalmology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Sanjay Sharma

    Sanjay Sharma

    Department of Ophthalmology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Published Date

  • Apr 29, 2022
This journal is publishing all the articles under Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

Changes in Scleral Thickness Following Repeated Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections

Journal of Ophthalmic and Vision Research (JOVR) / April–June 2022, Volume 17, Issue 2 / Pages 196–201

Abstract

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to compare changes in scleral thickness between eyes injected with repeated anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drugs and fellow injection naive eyes using optical coherence tomography (OCT).


Methods: A total of 79 patients treated with three intravitreal anti-VEGF injections in one eye versus no injections in the fellow eye were included. Anterior segment- OCT measured scleral thickness in the inferotemporal quadrant 4 mm away from the limbus.


Results: Injected eyes had a mean scleral thickness of 588 ± 95 μm versus 618 ± 85 μm in fellow naïve eyes (P < 0.001). Comparing injected eyes to fellow naïve eyes stratified by injection number showed a mean scleral thickness of 585 ± 93 μm versus 615 ± 83 μm in eyes with 3–10 injections (n = 32, P = 0.042); 606 ± 90 μm versus 636 ± 79 μm in eyes with 11–20 injections (n = 24, P = 0.017); and 573 ± 104 μm versus 604 ± 93 μm in eyes with >20 injections (n = 23, P = 0.041). There was no significant correlation between injection number and scleral thickness change (r = –0.07, P = 0.26). When stratified by indication, subjects with retinal vein occlusions showed a statistically significant difference in scleral thickness between injected and fellow naïve eyes (535 ± 94 μm and 598 ± 101 μm, respectively, P = 0.001).


Conclusion: Compared to injection naive eyes, multiple intravitreal injections at the repeated scleral quadrant results in scleral thinning. Consideration of multiple injection sites should be considered to avoid these changes.

Keywords:

Intravitreal Injection, Sclera, Macular Degeneration, Macular Edema, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

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