<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD JATS (Z39.96) Journal Publishing DTD v1.1 20151215//EN" "JATS-journalpublishing1.dtd">
<article xml:lang="KO" article-type="case-report">

<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="nlm-ta">J Korean Ophthalmol Soc</journal-id>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">JKOS</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society</journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="ppub">0378-6471</issn>
<issn pub-type="epub">2092-9374</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>The Korean Ophthalmological Society</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>

<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3341/jkos.2018.59.10.984</article-id>
<article-categories>
<subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
<subject>Case Report</subject>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title>Rapid Progression of the Epiretinal Membrane after Intravitreal Aflibercept Injection</article-title>
</title-group>

<contrib-group>

<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Kwon</surname>
<given-names>Ji Min</given-names>
</name>
<degrees>MD</degrees>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1"></xref>
</contrib>

<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Lee</surname>
<given-names>Myung Shin</given-names>
</name>
<degrees>MD</degrees>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1"></xref>
</contrib>

<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Pak</surname>
<given-names>Kang Yeun</given-names>
</name>
<degrees>MD</degrees>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1"></xref>
</contrib>

<contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
<name>
<surname>Kim</surname>
<given-names>Hyun Woong</given-names>
</name>
<degrees>MD</degrees>
<degrees>PhD</degrees>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1"></xref>
</contrib>

</contrib-group>

<aff id="A1">Department of Ophthalmology, Haeundae Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, <country>Korea</country>.</aff>

<author-notes>
<corresp>Address reprint requests to Hyun Woong Kim, MD, PhD. Department of Ophthalmology, Haeundae Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, #875 Haeundae-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan 48108, Korea. Tel: 051-797-2310, Fax: 051-797-2030, <email>maekbak@gmail.com</email></corresp>
</author-notes>

<pub-date pub-type="ppub">
<month>10</month>
<year>2018</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>17</day>
<month>10</month>
<year>2018</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>59</volume>
<issue>10</issue>
<fpage>984</fpage>
<lpage>988</lpage>

<history>
<date date-type="received">
<day>08</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2018</year>
</date>
<date date-type="rev-recd">
<day>03</day>
<month>07</month>
<year>2018</year>
</date>
<date date-type="accepted">
<day>27</day>
<month>09</month>
<year>2018</year>
</date>
</history>

<permissions>
<copyright-statement>&#x00A9;2018 The Korean Ophthalmological Society</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2018</copyright-year>
<copyright-holder>The Korean Ophthalmological Society</copyright-holder>
<license license-type="open-access" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/">
<license-p>This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/</ext-link>) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</license-p>
</license>
</permissions>

<abstract>
<sec>
<title>Purpose</title>
<p>To report a case of rapid progression of the epiretinal membrane following intravitreal aflibercept injection in a patient with exudative age-related macular degeneration.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Case summary</title>
<p>An 82-year-old female presented with a complaint of decreased visual acuity in her left eye for 1 month. The initial best-corrected visual acuity was 0.2 in the left eye. Fundus examination and optical coherence tomography revealed soft drusen with retinal hemorrhage of the macula and a transparent epiretinal membrane in the left eye. Fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography showed retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) of the left eye, so intravitreal aflibercept injection was performed. One month after the first injection, intraretinal cystic macular edema decreased, while transparency of the epiretinal membrane decreased and reflectivity and thickness of the membrane increased. After two additional injections of aflibercept, RAP showed improvement, whereas the epiretinal membrane progressed. Visual acuity of the left eye decreased to 0.1 and vitrectomy of the membrane was performed.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusions</title>
<p>Careful observation for potentially rapid progression of epiretinal membrane is needed after intravitreal aflibercept injection in the management of exudate age-related macular degeneration accompanied by epiretinal membrane.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

<kwd-group>
<kwd>Aflibercept</kwd>
<kwd>Age-related macular degeneration</kwd>
<kwd>Epiretinal membrane</kwd>
</kwd-group>

</article-meta>
</front>

<back>

<fn-group>
<fn fn-type="conflict">
<label>Conflicts of Interest</label>
  <p>The authors have no conflicts to disclose.</p>
</fn>
</fn-group>

    <ref-list>

  <ref id="B1">
    <label>1</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Ambati</surname>
          <given-names>J</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Ambati</surname>
          <given-names>BK</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Yoo</surname>
          <given-names>SH</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Age-related macular degeneration: etiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutic strategies</article-title>
      <source>Surv Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>2003</year>
      <volume>48</volume>
      <fpage>257</fpage>
      <lpage>293</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B2">
    <label>2</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Falavarjani</surname>
          <given-names>KG</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Nguyen</surname>
          <given-names>QD</given-names>
        </name>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Adverse events and complications associated with intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF agents: a review of literature</article-title>
      <source>Eye (Lond)</source>
      <year>2013</year>
      <volume>27</volume>
      <fpage>787</fpage>
      <lpage>794</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B3">
    <label>3</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="book">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Wickham</surname>
          <given-names>L</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Konstantinidis</surname>
          <given-names>L</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Wolfensberger</surname>
          <given-names>TJ</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <chapter-title>Epiretinal membranes, vitreoretinal traction, and cystoid macular edema</chapter-title>
      <person-group person-group-type="editor">
        <name>
          <surname>Schachat</surname>
          <given-names>AP</given-names>
        </name>
      </person-group>
      <source>Ryan's Retina</source>
      <edition>6th ed</edition>
      <publisher-loc>Philadelphia</publisher-loc>
      <publisher-name>Elsevier Inc.</publisher-name>
      <year>2017</year>
      <volume>3</volume>
      <comment>chap. 120</comment>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B4">
    <label>4</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Chen</surname>
          <given-names>YS</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Hackett</surname>
          <given-names>SF</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Schoenfeld</surname>
          <given-names>CL</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Localisation of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors to cells of vascular and avascular epiretinal membranes</article-title>
      <source>Br J Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>1997</year>
      <volume>81</volume>
      <fpage>919</fpage>
      <lpage>926</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B5">
    <label>5</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Abouammoh</surname>
          <given-names>MA</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Belliveau</surname>
          <given-names>MJ</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Almeida</surname>
          <given-names>DR</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Ranibizumab for idiopathic epiretinal membranes: a retrospective case series</article-title>
      <source>Saudi J Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>2013</year>
      <volume>27</volume>
      <fpage>79</fpage>
      <lpage>82</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B6">
    <label>6</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Marticorena</surname>
          <given-names>J</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Romano</surname>
          <given-names>MR</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Heimann</surname>
          <given-names>H</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Intravitreal bevacizumab for retinal vein occlusion and early growth of epiretinal membrane: a possible secondary effect?</article-title>
      <source>Br J Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>2011</year>
      <volume>95</volume>
      <fpage>391</fpage>
      <lpage>395</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B7">
    <label>7</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Kuiper</surname>
          <given-names>EJ</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Van Nieuwenhoven</surname>
          <given-names>FA</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>de Smet</surname>
          <given-names>MD</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>The angio-fibrotic switch of VEGF and CTGF in proliferative diabetic retinopathy</article-title>
      <source>PLoS One</source>
      <year>2008</year>
      <volume>3</volume>
      <elocation-id>e2675</elocation-id>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B8">
    <label>8</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Zhang</surname>
          <given-names>Q</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Qi</surname>
          <given-names>Y</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Chen</surname>
          <given-names>L</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>The relationship between anti-vascular endothelial growth factor and fibrosis in proliferative retinopathy: clinical and laboratory evidence</article-title>
      <source>Br J Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>2016</year>
      <volume>100</volume>
      <fpage>1443</fpage>
      <lpage>1450</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B9">
    <label>9</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Chu</surname>
          <given-names>SJ</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Zhang</surname>
          <given-names>ZH</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Wang</surname>
          <given-names>M</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Xu</surname>
          <given-names>HF</given-names>
        </name>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Effect of bevacizumab on the expression of fibrosis-related inflammatory mediators in ARPE-19 cells</article-title>
      <source>Int J Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>2017</year>
      <volume>10</volume>
      <fpage>366</fpage>
      <lpage>371</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

  <ref id="B10">
    <label>10</label>
    <element-citation publication-type="journal">
      <person-group person-group-type="author">
        <name>
          <surname>Zhang</surname>
          <given-names>JJ</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Chu</surname>
          <given-names>SJ</given-names>
        </name>
        <name>
          <surname>Sun</surname>
          <given-names>XL</given-names>
        </name>
        <etal/>
      </person-group>
      <article-title>Bevacizumab modulates retinal pigment epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition via regulating Notch signaling</article-title>
      <source>Int J Ophthalmol</source>
      <year>2015</year>
      <volume>8</volume>
      <fpage>245</fpage>
      <lpage>249</lpage>
    </element-citation>
  </ref>

    </ref-list>

</back>

<floats-group>

<fig position="float" id="F1">
<label>Figure 1</label>
<caption>
  <title>Fundus photographies and optical coherence tomographies during treatment. At the time of initial examination, a large number of soft drusens and retinal hemorrhages were observed in the fundus photography (A). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed intraretinal cysts, pigmented epithelium detachment (PED), and epiretinal membrane (ERM), resulting in a central macular thickness (CMT) of 405 &#x00B5;m (B). 1 month after the first injection, the transparency of the ERM decreased in the fundus photography (C). In the OCT, the intraretinal cysts disappeared and height of PED decreased. But the reflectivity and thickness of the ERM increased, resulting in a CMT of 457 &#x00B5;m (D). 1 month after the second injection, the ERM became more opaque in the fundus photography (E), and CMT increased to 506 &#x00B5;m (F). 1 month after the third injection, the ERM remained thick in the fundus photography and OCT (G, H). Pars plana vitrectomy for ERM was done. The membrane was removed well though retinal pigment epithelial tear was observed at postoperative 10 days (I, J). 1 month after the fourth injection, fovea remained stable with scarring (K, L).</title>
</caption>
<graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="jkos-59-984-g001"></graphic>
</fig>

<fig position="float" id="F2">
<label>Figure 2</label>
<caption>
  <title>Fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography of the patient at the initial visit. Late phase fluorescein angiography showed hyperfluorescence and pooling of dye at the fovea with a blocked fluorescence due to retinal hemorrhages (A). Indocyanine green angiography revealed hot spots (B).</title>
</caption>
<graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="jkos-59-984-g002"></graphic>
</fig>

</floats-group>

</article>