Blood vessels possess the capacity to rapidly form new vasculature in response to injury or in pathological conditions, such as hypoxia, oxidative stress, and inflammatory stress.28 The key players in angiogenesis are the blood vessel lining ECs.29 Atherosclerosis or exogenous VEGF stimulation causes hypoxia, oxidative stress, or inflammatory stress in the retina and cornea, thereby leading to pathological angiogenesis. This evidence concerns the gene VEGFA and atherosclerosis.