Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To report on the outcome of patients treated with transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) for classic and occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to age related macular degeneration. Methods: A non–randomized pilot trial of 36 eyes of 33 patients was performed. Angiographically defined CNV, 11 predominantly classical and 25 predominantly occult were treated with a large spot diode laser (810nm) TTT for 1 min, the end point being no or minimal visible change. Outcome was assessed with best–corrected LogMar visual acuity, clinical examination and fluorescein angiography. Results: Patients were followed up for a mean of 28.7 months (range 18–40m). The mean change in LogMar visual acuity for predominantly classic membranes was –1.91 (SD 4.3) and 5/11 (45.5%) had visual loss of LogMar 3 lines or more. Predominantly classic membranes were closed in 9/11 patients eyes, stabilized in 2/11 with 0/11 recurrence. The mean change in LogMar visual acuity for predominantly occult membranes was –1.48 (SD 6.3) and 10/25 (40%) patients had visual loss of 3 lines or more. Predominantly occult CNV were stabilized in 25/25 cases recurrence developed in 2/25, one of these developed classic CNV. Conclusions: The medium term results for patients treated with TTT for both occult and classic CNV show good stability, with little visual loss and few recurrences. This data confirms our original findings while we await results of randomized clinical trials.
Keywords: age–related macular degeneration • laser • choroid: neovascularization