Clinical Ophthalmology (Jun 2013)

Retinal pigment epithelium tear after intravitreal aflibercept injection

  • Saito M,
  • Kano M,
  • Itagaki K,
  • Oguchi Y,
  • Sekiryu T

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2013, no. default
pp. 1287 – 1289

Abstract

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Masaaki Saito, Mariko Kano, Kanako Itagaki, Yasuharu Oguchi, Tetsuju Sekiryu Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan Abstract: To report a case complicated with a retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tear after intravitreal aflibercept injection. A 78-year-old man had deteriorated visual acuity in his left eye. Fluorescein angiography showed occult choroidal neovascularization. Optical coherence tomography showed a serous retinal detachment and fibrovascular pigment epithelial detachment. He was diagnosed as typical age-related macular degeneration associated with pigment epithelial detachment and treatment consisting of three consecutive monthly intravitreal injections of aflibercept was planned. A month after the initial injection, his visual acuity had not improved. The red-free photograph showed an area of RPE defect inferior to the fovea. The fundus autofluorescence, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography clearly demonstrated the presence of an RPE tear. A second injection of aflibercept was performed due to a remaining serous retinal detachment. Although this is a single case and RPE tears may occur as a spontaneous complication of age-related macular degeneration patients, the risk of a tear should be discussed when considering aflibercept treatment for typical age-related macular degeneration patients with pigment epithelial detachment as there might be a risk for developing an RPE tear. Keywords: age-related macular degeneration, aflibercept, pigment epithelial detachment, retinal pigment epithelium tear