Quality of life in a prospective, randomised pilot-trial of photodynamic therapy versus full macular translocation in treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration--a report of 1 year results.
OBJECTIVE
To assess visual function and its effects on vision-targeted, health-related quality of life (QOL) of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT) or full macular translocation (FMT).


METHODS
Fifty patients with predominantly classic subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) secondary to AMD were randomised to PDT or FMT. To test the vision-targeted QOL, the 39-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25 plus supplement) was administered prior to and 1 year after therapy. The change of vision-related QOL at 1 year in comparison to baseline was defined as primary end point.


RESULTS
The vision-related subscales showed a stabilisation or even higher mean scores at 1 year in both treatment groups. A significant improvement in the quality of the subject's vision-related subscales was only observed after FMT correlating with a more frequent increase in visual acuity. Comparing the results of the QOL scores after 1 year, the improvement of the subscale scores general vision (p = 0.03), mental health (p = 0.02) and dependency (p = 0.03) were significantly higher in the FMT arm.


CONCLUSIONS
FMT and PDT can achieve a stabilisation in vision-related QOL, in which FMT was superior to the PDT after 1 year. The discrepancy between the amount of patients with an increased visual acuity after FMT and a moderate improvement in QOL might be caused by the onset of complications related to this surgical procedure. Besides visual acuity, the impact of therapy-related complications has to be taken into consideration when evaluating new therapeutic concepts in exudative AMD.
Lüke
Matthias
M
University Eye Hospital, Centre for Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University of Tuebingen, Schleichstr. 12-16, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany. matthias.lueke@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Ziemssen
Focke
F
Bartz-Schmidt
Karl Ulrich
KU
Gelisken
Faik
F
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000637:transplantation*; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity