Abstract
Purpose: :
To study the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin as a treatment for patients with subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).
Methods: :
We retrospectively reviewed 40 consecutive eyes (38 patients; 31 men, 7 women) with subfoveal PCV treated with PDT. Patients ranged in age from 57 to 87 years, average 74 years. Ten of the 40 eyes had a serous retinal pigment epithelial detachment (PED) and 12 eyes had type 2 choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Patients were followed up for 12 to 18 months (mean, 14 months).
Results: :
The mean baseline and last visit logMAR best–corrected visual acuity were 0.71 and 0.59, respectively. The mean change in visual acuity was an improvement of 2.54 lines. Visual acuity improved in 15 eyes (38%, improved by≥3 lines), remained in 20 eyes (50%), and decreased in 5 eyes (12%, decreased by≤3 lines). The patients received a mean of 2.1 treatments (range, 1–5). There was no fluorescein leakage from CNV in 33 of 40 eyes at the final examination. Indocyanine green angiographic findings revealed that polypoidal CNV was completely closed in 36 of 40 eyes after the initial PDT. Three eyes developed recurrence of polypoidal CNV at 6 to 9 months after the last PDT. Eyes with type 2 CNV required 2.9 (mean) treatments. Eyes without type 2 CNV required 1.7 (mean) treatments. There was a significant differences in a number of treatment between eyes with type 2 CNV and eyes without type 2 CNV (P=0.001, t–test). Subretinal hemorrhage (greater than 1 disc diameter) occurred in 7 eyes after PDT.
Conclusions: :
PDT with verteporfin was effective for eyes with subfoveal PCV. Presence of type 2 CNV significantly needed more treatments.
Keywords: photodynamic therapy • age-related macular degeneration • retinal pigment epithelium