Anti-VEGF drugs, for most people, is a very unfamiliar, even somewhat advanced medical term. However, if we talk about macular degeneration, macular edema, diabetic retinopathy and fundus hemorrhage, many people have heard of them, and maybe you have relatives or friends around you who suffer from these eye diseases. All of these diseases have a serious impact on the patient’s vision and are “irreversible visual impairment” lesions. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among people over 50 years of age in the United States; with the rapid increase in the number of people with diabetes, the incidence of diabetic retinopathy has increased exponentially and has become the main eye disease causing irreversible blindness in China; fundus hemorrhage, including a variety of retinal and choroidal vasculopathy, retinal detachment, etc., will cause significant vision loss; and macular edema is a complication of many retinal diseases, directly causing vision loss; and macular edema is a complication of many retinal diseases. Ten years ago, although there were some medications and surgical treatments for these diseases, the improvement of vision after treatment was very limited and could not prevent further vision loss, and most cases had low vision. With the advancement of medical science, the improvement of vitreoretinal microsurgical instruments and techniques, and the emergence of new drugs, all have led to a significant improvement in the prognosis of patients’ visual acuity. Among them, anti-VEGF drugs are one of the most important. VEGF is an acronym for vascular endothelial growth factor, also called vascular permeability factor. This factor plays a major role in the pathogenesis of several ocular diseases. At the onset, the concentration of VEGF increases in the eye, producing unhealthy neovascularization, followed by serious complications such as massive hemorrhage, fibroproliferation, retinal detachment by traction, and neovascular glaucoma, as well as causing significant vascular leakage, leading to persistent severe tissue edema. Resisting or reducing the concentration of VEGF in the eye can inhibit the progression of the disease and play a corresponding therapeutic role. For this reason, anti-VEGF research has been conducted by ophthalmologists for many years. It was not until 2005 that the first anti-VEGF drug was introduced into the clinic, marking the beginning of the “anti-VEGF era” in ophthalmology. What diseases are anti-VEGF used to treat? Currently, the main indications for anti-VEGF are: “wet” macular degeneration, macular choroidal neovascularization in high myopia, retinal vein occlusion with macular edema, diabetic retinopathy with macular edema, neovascular glaucoma, retinopathy of prematurity, and vitreoretinal pre-surgery adjuvant. Age-related macular degeneration: It is the first therapeutic indication for anti-VEGF drugs. Prior to the advent of anti-VEGF drugs, there was no effective treatment for wet macular degeneration, with patients experiencing up to 70% to 80% vision loss within 3 years and almost all patients eventually going blind. The advent of anti-VEGF drugs has “revolutionized” the treatment of the disease, with a 7-year clinical study showing that 1/3 of patients who were bound to go blind had stable vision and even improved vision in 1/3 of patients, while 1/3 of patients had no effect. The latest American epidemiological findings show that the rate of blindness due to wet macular degeneration has decreased in the last 10 years and is thought to be related to the use of anti-VEGF drugs. Macular choroidal neovascularization in high myopia: Although its pathogenesis is different from macular degeneration, the same choroidal writing neovascularization in the macula is produced, so anti-VEGF drug therapy is effective. Retinal vein obstruction complicating macular edema, diabetic retinopathy combined with macular edema: anti-VEGF drugs can rapidly and effectively reduce the concentration of VEGF in the eye, so they have obvious therapeutic effect for macular edema. It also has an important role in stopping the progression of retinal vascular disease and diabetic retinopathy itself. Neovascular glaucoma: A variety of retinal vascular diseases can develop to the end stage, secondary to glaucoma. It is recognized as a “refractory” form of glaucoma because of the rapid progression of the disease and the difficulty of treatment. The advent of anti-VEGF has given these patients valuable treatment time, and the combination of fundus laser therapy and glaucoma surgery can improve the visual prognosis of some patients. Pre-surgical adjuvant medication: As a pre-surgical adjuvant medication for fundus laser, it has the effect of reducing the macular and retinal edema caused by laser, as well as reducing the dosage of laser and reducing the side effect of laser damage to retinal photoreceptor cells, thus reducing the vision loss caused by laser. Adjuvant medication before vitreoretinal surgery can reduce intraoperative bleeding, shorten surgery time, and improve postoperative visual acuity. Anti-VEGF drugs are injectable drugs and are administered by intraocular injection (intravitreal injection). In order to avoid adverse reactions, the preparation before and after the injection is performed as if it were a routine ophthalmic surgery, and the injection procedure is performed in the ophthalmic operating room. The injection can be repeated depending on the need of the condition. Problems that can be caused by intraocular injections, serious ones include ocular infections and bleeding, but the incidence is lower than cataract surgery in all cases. Clinical use has given recognition to the safety of the drugs. Anti-VEGF drugs are now widely used in ophthalmology clinics and have become a beneficial new weapon in the hands of ophthalmologists to save patients’ vision!