ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between hyperreflective dots (HRD) and lipid levels and systemic inflammatory factors in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) or central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).MethodsA cross-sectional clinical study. From December 2016 to June 2020, 118 eyes of 118 patients with retinal vein occlusion diagnosed in the Department of Ophthalmology, Central Theater Command Hospital of People's Liberation Army were included in the study. Among them, 67 cases of BRVO and 51 cases of CRVO were divided into CRVO group and BRVO group accordingly. Peripheral venous blood was drawn from the patients within 3 days after the eye examination to detect the percentage of neutrophils, monocytes, hypersensitive C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a). The ratio of monocytes to high-density lipoprotein (MHR) was also calculated. The 3D OCT-2000 instrument from Topcon (Japan) was used to measure the central retinal thickness (CRT) and the numbers of HRD. According to the different distribution position, HRD is divided into inner retina HRD, outer retina HRD, and total retina HRD.The independent sample t test was used to compare the continuous variables of the two groups, and the χ2 test was used to compare the rates. The correlation between HRD counts and blood lipid levels and peripheral blood inflammation indicators in patients with different types of RVO was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.ResultsThe average age of patients in the BRVO group and CRVO group were 60.1±9.5 and 53.6±15.7 years, respectively; the prevalence of hypertension was 53.7% (36/67) and 24.5% (12/51), respectively. Comparison of age (t=2.634) and prevalence of hypertension (χ2=11.298) between the two groups showed statistically significant differences (P＜0.05). Gender (χ2=2.000), course of disease (t=－1.101), prevalence of diabetes (χ2=1.315), eye category (χ2=1.742), baseline visual acuity (t=1.792), intraocular pressure (t=0.708), CRT (t=1.318), and peripheral blood include the percentage of neutrophils, the absolute number of monocytes, CRP, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), MHR (t=－0.559, 1.126, 0.579, 1.299, －0.134, 0.556, 1.230, －0.267, 0.483), the difference was not statistically significant. Correlation analysis showed that the HRD counts in the outer retina of BRVO patients were positively correlated with total cholesterol (r=0.289, P=0.036); the HRD in the inner retina and total HRD counts of CRVO patients were positively correlated with CRP (r=0.406, 0.343; P=0.004, 0.014). There was no correlation between HRD counts and percentage of neutrophils, absolute number of monocytes, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, lipoprotein(a), and MHR (P＞0.05).ConclusionThe number of HRD is related to the blood lipid level in BRVO patients and CRP (an inflammatory index) in CRVO patients.
ObjectiveTo explore the conversion treatment value of Faricimab in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) who had sub-optimal response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug therapy, and to preliminarily evaluate its clinical effect. MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From March 2024 to January 2025, 25 patients (32 eyes) diagnosed with nAMD at Department of Ophthalmology of General Hospital of Central Theater Command were included in the study. All affected eyes were converted to receive Faricimab treatment due to sub-optimal response to previous anti-VEGF drug therapy. The treatment plan is to provide treatment as needed after the first injection based on the follow-up results. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) were evaluated. BCVA examination was conducted using the Snellen visual acuity chart and converted to the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolutionn (logMAR) visual acuity for statistical analysis. The SS-OCTA system automatically calculates indicators such as central retinal thickness (CRT), choroidal neovascularization surface area (CSA), and choroidal neovascularization flow area (CFA). The main observations were made on the changes of BCVA, CSA, CFA, CRT and adverse reactions at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment. A mixed linear model was adopted to compare the differences between each index and the baseline. ResultsAmong the 25 patients, 20 were male (80.0%, 20/25) and 5 were female (20.0%, 5/25). Age was (66.6±11.2) years old. The disease course was (41.2±36.4) months. Previously received anti-VEGF drug treatment (20.5±21.6) times, involving 2.2 types of drugs. Among the 32 eyes, 16 (50.0%), 11 (34.4%), and 7 (21.9%) eyes had subretinal fluid, intraretinal fluid, and both coexisting, respectively. At baseline, the logMAR BCVA of the affected eye was 0.67±0.41, the CSA and CFA were (7.46±6.27) and (3.26±2.59) mm2, respectively, and the CRT was (380.75±147.56) μm. At 1, 3, and 6 months after switching to Faricimab treatment, logMAR BCVA improved to 0.57±0.42, 0.55±0.41, and 0.50±0.35, respectively. The corresponding CSA were (6.36±6.10), (6.44±6.12), and (6.44±5.96) mm2. The corresponding CFA values were (2.79±2.50), (2.35±2.25), and (2.59±2.35) mm2. The corresponding CRT were (330.64±147.56), (329.44±130.73), (340.05±144.56) μm. Compared with the baseline, BCVA significantly improved at each time point after treatment, and CSA and CFA significantly decreased. The differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05). At 1 and 3 months after treatment, CRT was significantly lower than the baseline, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.005, 0.025). During the follow-up period, the intraocular pressure of all affected eyes remained normal, and no serious adverse events such as intraocular infection occurred. ConclusionFor nAMD patients with poor response to anti-VEGF drug treatment, switching to Faricimab treatment can effectively improve the BCVA and anatomical structure (including CSA, CFA and CRT) of the affected eyes, and has good safety.
