VEGFA and diabetic retinopathy: However, we intentionally designed the study with this relatively short follow-up interval, taking into consideration that the intraindividual nature of the observations with one study eye and a control (contralateral) eye of the same patient who has diabetic retinopathy and undergone phacoemulsification would risk the possibility of losing many patients by exclusion, should they have needed an intravitreal anti-VEGF injection shortly after the operation.