Treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with photodynamic therapy

Purpose: To study the effects of photodynamic therapy using verteporfin in the treatment of patients with subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Methods: A retrospective chart review of 16 consecutive patients with subfoveal PCV treated with photodynamic therapy using verteporfin was performed. Results: The mean age of the patients involved was 70.5 years. The mean follow-up time was 12 months. The visual acuity improved in 9 (56.3%), remained the same in 5 (31.3%), and decreased in 2 (12.5%). The mean change in visual acuity was an improvement of 2.38 lines, a difference that was highly significant (P = 0.004). The change in visual acuity was negatively correlated with increasing age. The final visual acuity was positively correlated with initial acuity and negatively correlated with age. These results were confirmed by multiple linear regression. No patient had any lasting complication from the treatment. Conclusions: Subfoveal PCV has no proven method of treatment. Although the follow-up time and the number of patients in this pilot study were limited, the encouraging results and lack of complications suggest that further study is indicated.