BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of intravitreal injections of erythropoietin in eyes with severe, chronic diabetic macular edema, 5 eyes of 5 patients underwent injections of rHuEPO alpha (EPO).
PATIENTS AND METHODS
All eyes had progressive vision loss and persistent or worsening edema with prior multi-modal treatment. EPO (5U/50 µL) was injected intravitreally every 6 weeks for three doses and followed for an additional 6 weeks with complete ocular examinations, fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and central field acuity perimetry.
RESULTS
Visual acuity of all patients was subjectively improved by 3 or more lines in 3 eyes and 1 line in 2 eyes. Visual acuity improved to a larger extent than anatomic improvement by OCT. Clearing of hard exudates but only minor improvement in leakage on fluorescein angiography was observed. Improvement in vision occurred within 1 week after the first injection and was maintained until the end point of the current case series (at 18 weeks after the first injection).
CONCLUSION
This case series seems to show a short-term positive response to EPO for a specific group of patients with chronic diabetic macular edema who were unresponsive to currently available therapies.
[Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging 2010;41:18-25.]
AUTHORS
From the Department of Ophthalmology (WL, SHS), Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Laboratory of Clinical Visual Sciences (G-TX), Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China; the Department of Ophthalmology (WL), Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; and the Tongji Eye Institute and Department of Regenerative Medicine (G-TX), Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (WL, SHS, and G-TX contribute equally to this work).
Accepted for publication March 9, 2009.
Supported by the Unrestricted Research Fund from the Clear Vision Foundation, Media, Pennsylvania; and the Sciences and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality: 08410701200.
The authors thank Dr. Yaprak Banu Unver, Dr. Jingfa Zhang, Richard Lambert, and Yafeng Li for preparing this manuscript.
The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.
Address correspondence to Weiye Li, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 219 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
doi: 10.3928/15428877-20091230-03
