LAUSR

Fifteen patients with uveal melanoma with conbercept injections and 30 patients with uveal melanoma without injections after plaque radiotherapy were observed by optical coherence tomography angiography in this study. Our results indicated that intravitreal conbercept treatment could increase superficial retinal vascular density in early stage. Purpose: To investigate macular microvascular characteristics imaged by optical coherence tomography angiography in patients with uveal melanoma following conbercept injections after plaque radiotherapy. Methods: Prospective comparative analysis comprising 15 patients with uveal melanoma with conbercept injections and 30 patients without conbercept injections after plaque radiotherapy by optical coherence tomography angiography. The conbercept group received intravitreal conbercept injections at the time of plaque removal, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months , 9 months and 12 months after plaque removal (total, 6 injections). The control group had no intravitreal conbercept injection. Results: After initiation of conbercept injections, superficial retinal vascular density in the whole image and parafoveal region were significantly higher at 6 months, whereas there was no significant difference at 9 months and 12 months. In analysis of variance analysis, superficial retinal vascular density in the whole image remained stable after conbercept injections (P = 0.069), whereas the superficial retinal vascular density decreased significantly after plaque radiotherapy in the control group (P = 0.011). In multivariable linear regression, a higher superficial retinal vascular density in the whole image region at 6 months was significantly associated with intravitreal conbercept injection (P = 0.018), wider tumor base (P = 0.026), and thinner tumor thickness (P = 0.04). Conclusion: Optical coherence tomography angiography can provide a quantitative evaluation of early retinal microvascular changes after radiotherapy. Intravitreal conbercept treatment could partly relieve the retinal vascular damage in response to radiation therapy at early stage in patients with uveal melanoma; however, it may not be able to provide long-term positive functional outcomes.