Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Ocular Fluid of Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy and Other Retinal Disorders

Intraocular neovascularization occurs in numerous ischemic retinal disorders, including diabetic retinopathy, ischemic retinal-vein occlusion, and retinopathy of prematurity 1 , 2 . This proliferation often results in vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, and neovascular glaucoma, with subsequent visual loss. Although numerous growth factors stimulate angiogenesis in vivo, 3 – 6 these factors are not consistently increased in proliferative retinopathies 5 , 6 or secreted, as would be expected if they caused intraocular neovascularization at sites distant from those of retinal ischemia. In neovascular retinopathies such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy, there is initially extensive active proliferation of new vessels 1 , 7 . Visual loss at this time results from . . .