gms | German Medical Science

102. Jahrestagung der DOG

Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft e. V.

23. bis 26.09.2004, Berlin

Influence of verteporfin photodynamic therapy on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in choroidal neovascular membranes

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author O. Tatar - Department of Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen
  • A. Adam - Department of Pathology, University of Tuebingen
  • F. Gelisken - Department of Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen
  • M. Völker - Department of Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen
  • K.U. Bartz-Schmidt - Department of Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen
  • S. Grisanti - Department of Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen

Evidenzbasierte Medizin - Anspruch und Wirklichkeit. 102. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft. Berlin, 23.-26.09.2004. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2004. Doc04dogFR.04.03

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/dog2004/04dog194.shtml

Published: September 22, 2004

© 2004 Tatar et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

Objective

To evaluate the impact of verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT) on the expression and distribution of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in choroidal neovascular membranes (CNV) secondary to age related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods

Retrospective review of an interventional case series of fifteen patients who underwent removal of CNV (n=15) secondary to ARMD after treatment with PDT 3 to 246 days previously. CNV were stained for CD 34, Endoglin (CD 105), Ki-67 and VEGF. Thirty CNV secondary to AMD without previous treatment were used as control. Immunohistological results were correlated with clinical findings and fluorescein angiography.

Results

CNV without PDT disclosed different degrees of VEGF expression by endothelial cells. Retinal pigment epithelium cells (RPE), in contrast, mostly displayed no or weak immunoreactivity. However, CNV treated by PDT were characterized by a strong VEGF expression in RPE cells. Weak endothelial and stromal VEGF expression 3 days after PDT was contrasted by an upregulation at greater post-treatment intervals.

Conclusions

Verteporfin PDT characteristically induces a hypoperfusion of the treated area. The resulting ischemic insult of the tissue is probably responsible for the enhanced VEGF expression by RPE cells and neoangiogenesis.