Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy

Abstract

Background: To describe the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin for the treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).MethodsThis is a retrospective interventional case series of 41 eyes of 40 patients with angiographic evidence of PCV, which had PDT with verteporfin. Pre-treatment best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was measured and patients were followed up for at least 12 months with BCVA recorded at each visit.ResultsThe mean follow-up time was 23.7 months. Seven of 10 eyes (70%) with juxtafoveal lesions and 17 of 31 eyes (54.8%) with subfoveal lesions had stable or improved vision (loss of 3 lines) at the last follow-up. The mean number of treatments was 1.90. Thirty-three eyes (80.5%) had dry, quiescent scars at last follow-up, six eyes (14.6%) had persistent leakage, and two eyes (4.9%) had evidence of choroidal neovascularisation.ConclusionOur results indicate that 24 of 41 eyes (58.5%) with serosanguinous maculopathy secondary to PCV treated with PDT had stable or improved vision (loss of 3 lines) after a mean follow-up of almost 2 years. However, in view of the retrospective nature of this study, the true efficacy of PDT for PCV would have to be evaluated with a larger randomised controlled trial. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.