Role of photodynamic therapy in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).


METHODS
PDT was performed in 35 patients (35 eyes) with PCV. We evaluated the number of treatments and compared visual acuity (VA), ophthalmological findings, and changes in polypoidal lesions and branching vascular networks by measuring lesion diameters using Heidelberg retina angiography before PDT, and then every 3 months for 1 year after PDT.


RESULTS
The mean annual number of treatment sessions was 2.2. VA was improved or maintained in 80% of the patients. Retinal pigment epithelium detachment, retinal detachment, hemorrhage, and/or exudates disappeared in 69%, and leakage resolved in 74% of the patients. Polypoidal lesions disappeared completely on indocyanine green angiography in 83% of the patients. All branching vascular networks persisted. Polypoidal lesions had recurred at the termini of the remaining branching vascular networks at 9 months after the first PDT in two eyes and at 12 months in one eye.


CONCLUSIONS
PDT with verteporfin for PCV appears to improve or maintain VA for the first posttreatment year. Approximately 70% of PCV cases showed improved ophthalmoscopic findings. However, as polypoidal lesions recur after PDT in some cases, further study is needed to confirm the long-term efficacy of PDT for PCV.
Department of Ophthalmology, Surugadai Hospital of Nihon University, Kanda, Tokyo, Japan. merryeriko@hotmail.com
Eriko
E
Akaza
Mitsuko
M
Yuzawa
Yoko
Y
Matsumoto
Shiho
S
Kashiwakura
Kyoko
K
Fujita
Ryusaburo
R
Mori
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply*; D015862:Choroid Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000077362:Verteporfin; D014792:Visual Acuity
D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D011166:Porphyrins; D000077362:Verteporfin