Difficulty in Assessing the Systemic Adverse Effects of Intravitreal Anti –Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy

While the visual benefits of intravitreal anti –vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy are clear, the debate around financial costs and clinical efficacy between agents continues today. The potential treatment-associated systemic adverse effects are less discussed but of equal importance. Zafar and colleagues use the Veterans H ealth Administration database to assess the occurrence of systemic adverse events in 1.7 million patients with type 2 diabetes, over 14 000 of whom received intravitreal anti-VEGF agents. Acute myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, and kidney disease were each evaluated. The authors foun d that compared with unexposed patients with type 2 diabetes, those who received anti-VEGF therapy had increased odds of each of the outcomes including a 1.77 increased odds (95% CI, 1.68-1.87; P <  .001) for having any adverse event overall.
Source: JAMA Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research