Level of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Tenon Tissue and Results of Glaucoma Surgery

Objective: To determine the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in both the aqueous humor and Tenon tissue in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and the associations between the VEGF and outcomes of glaucoma surgery. Methods: The study involved 19 patients with POAG who were scheduled to undergo glaucoma surgery owing to uncontrolled intraocular pressure (IOP) and 17 control subjects who were scheduled to undergo cataract surgery. At the time of surgery, about 0.1 mL of aqueous humor was collected through an anterior chamber paracentesis and a 4 x 4-mm Tenon tissue sample was cut from the eye. Concentrations of VEGF were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Spearman correlation and regression analysis were used to assess the relationship with VEGF level to the clinical characteristics and postoperative IOP. Results: The VEGF in Tenon tissue was significantly elevated in patients with POAG compared with control subjects (P=.001). When patients with POAG were divided into success or failure groups 1 year following surgery, the VEGF levels were significantly higher in the Tenon tissue of the failure group compared with the success group (P=.014). The preoperative IOP was significantly related to the VEGF level in Tenon tissue in both the univariate (P=.001) and multivariate (P=.012) regressions. Conclusions: The VEGF level in Tenon tissue at the time of surgery was significantly related to 1-year surgical outcomes of glaucoma surgery, and it was significantly associated with the final IOP in patients with POAG.