Verteporfin photodynamic therapy cohort study: report 1: effectiveness and factors influencing outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the visual outcomes after verteporfin photodynamic therapy (VPDT) administered in routine clinical practice with those observed in the Treatment of Age-related macular degeneration with Photodynamic therapy (TAP) trials and to quantify the effects of clinically important baseline covariates on outcome.


METHODS
A prospective longitudinal study of patients treated with VPDT in 45 ophthalmology departments in the United Kingdom with expertise in the management of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).


METHODS
Patients with wholly or predominantly classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) of any cause with a visual acuity >or=20/200 in the eye to be treated.


METHODS
Refracted best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and contrast sensitivity were measured in VPDT-treated eyes at baseline and subsequent visits. Eyes were retreated at 3 months if CNV was judged to be active. Baseline angiograms were graded to quantify the percentages of classic and occult CNV. Treated eyes were categorized as eligible or ineligible for TAP, or unclassifiable.


METHODS
Best-corrected visual acuity and contrast sensitivity during 1 year of follow-up after initial treatment.


RESULTS
A total of 7748 treated patients were recruited. Data from 4043 patients with a diagnosis of nAMD were used in the present analysis. Reading center determination of lesion type showed that 87% were predominantly classic CNV. Eyes received 2.4 treatments in year 1 and 0.4 treatments in year 2. Deterioration of BCVA over 1 year was similar to that observed in the VPDT arms of the TAP trials and was not influenced by TAP eligibility classification. Best-corrected visual acuity deteriorated more quickly in current smokers; with increasing proportion of classic CNV, increasing age, and better baseline BCVA; and when the fellow eye was the better eye.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients in the cohort who would have been eligible for the TAP trials demonstrated deterioration in BCVA similar to VPDT-treated TAP participants but with fewer treatments. Clinical covariates with a significant impact on BCVA outcomes were identified.
Harding
Simon P
SP
Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, England.
Tomlin
Keith
K
Reeves
Barnaby C
BC
Langham
Julia
J
Walker
Jemma
J
Carpenter
James
J
Grieve
Richard
R
Patton
William P
WP
Muldrew
Katherine A
KA
Peto
Tunde
T
Chakravarthy
Usha
U
D000368:Aged; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013222:State Medicine; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom; D000077362:Verteporfin; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*
D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D011166:Porphyrins; D000077362:Verteporfin