Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To determine the visual outcomes and the possible improvement in quality of life for patients who received photodynamic therapy for the treatment of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization from ARMD. Methods: Charts of 55 patients who received PDT between the years 2000 and 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. Subsequently, the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ 25) was sent out to every patient to subjectively assess any changes in the quality of life before and after PDT. The questions within this survey produced a visual function score for 12 subcategories (ie: general vision, near activities, distance activities, etc.) Each category is scored on a 100% scale. (0% being the worse function and 100% for the best visual function.) Patients were divided into three groups based on pre-treatment best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). (Mild visual loss >20/70, Moderate 20/80-20/200, Severe <20/400.) Paired t-tests were done comparing the difference in the BCVA between pre-therapy visual acuity and best attained visual acuity after at least one round of PDT. Student t-tests were used to compare the questionnaire scores for each sub-category. Two groups were compared to each other at a time. Results: Comparisons done between pre-treatment visual acuity and best attained visual acuities after PDT between the three groups revealed a benefit in visual gain only for the "Severe" visual loss group (BCVA, Δ=+0.02) (p<0.04). The questionnaire results revealed a statistically significant function score difference between the moderate and severe visual loss groups for the sub-categories of near and distance activities. The severe group scored 25% (p<0.04) higher than the moderate group for near function. The severe group also scored 26% (P<0.04) higher than the moderate group for distance visual function. Conclusions: Patients who benefit most from PDT are those patients with previously severe vision loss from ARMD (<20/400) prior to therapy. Our survey results revealed a statistically significant higher visual function score for near and distance vision of the severe visual loss group when compared to the moderate visual loss group. This could indicate that patients with severe vision loss prior to treatment may experience a subjective improvement in their vision.
Keywords: photodynamic therapy • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: out