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Correlation between serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor and subfoveal choroidal thickness in patients with POEMS syndrome

  • Retinal Disorders
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Abstract

Purpose

The study was conducted to determine whether serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels are significantly correlated with subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) and foveal thickness (FT) in patients with polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome.

Patients and methods

In this cross-sectional observational case series, we studied 31 eyes of 16 treatment-naïve patients with POEMS syndrome with no evidence of fundus abnormalities. Subfoveal CT and FT were measured using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), and correlations between serum VEGF levels and subfoveal CT and FT were determined.

Results

The mean subfoveal CT was 417.9 ± 73.5 μm (right eye, 416.7 ± 81.2 μm; left eye, 419.0 ± 68.1 μm), and the mean FT was 243.8 ± 35.2 μm (right eye, 248.8 ± 22.0 μm; left eye, 239.1 ± 44.6 μm). There was a significant positive correlation between the serum VEGF level and subfoveal CT (right eye, r = 0.58, p = 0.021; left eye, r = 0.60, p = 0.012), but the correlation between the level of serum VEGF and FT was not significant (right eye, r = 0.007, p > 0.05; left eye, r = 0.25, p > 0.05).

Conclusions

The significant correlation between the serum VEGF level and subfoveal CT in patients with POEMS syndrome suggests that choroidal thickness is influenced by the level of serum VEGF. These results not only aid in an understanding of the pathogenesis of ocular changes in patients with POEMS syndrome, but also offer clues regarding the pathogenesis of other choroidal diseases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Duco Hamasaki of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami for his critical discussion and final manuscript revision.

Conflict of interest

No conflicting relationship exists for any author.

Funding

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba, 260-0856, Japan

    Hirotaka Yokouchi, Takayuki Baba, Masayasu Kitahashi, Toshiyuki Oshitari & Shuichi Yamamoto

  2. Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Sonoko Misawa, Setsu Sawai, Minako Beppu & Satoshi Kuwabara

  3. Molecular Diagnosis, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Setsu Sawai

  4. Division of Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Genetics, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba, Japan

    Setsu Sawai

Authors
  1. Hirotaka Yokouchi
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  2. Takayuki Baba
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  3. Sonoko Misawa
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  4. Setsu Sawai
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  6. Masayasu Kitahashi
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  7. Toshiyuki Oshitari
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  8. Satoshi Kuwabara
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  9. Shuichi Yamamoto
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Correspondence to Hirotaka Yokouchi.

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Yokouchi, H., Baba, T., Misawa, S. et al. Correlation between serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor and subfoveal choroidal thickness in patients with POEMS syndrome. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 253, 1641–1646 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-014-2843-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-014-2843-8

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