[Study of the causes of poor visual prognosis in photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration]

To study the factors for poor visual outcome in photodynamic therapy(PDT) for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization.

Medical charts of eighty-five patients (88 eyes) who had AMD with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization were reviewed in the study. All patients were followed up by visual acuity assessment, angiography, and optical coherence tomography at least 6 months after PDT.

Out of 11 cases of poor visual outcome, 7 cases showed cystoid macular edema (CME) before treatment and 4 cases showed massive subretinal hemorrhage and/or vitreous hemorrhage after treatment. Some cases with CME had a worse visual outcome than cases without CME.

Some of the factors for poor visual outcome after PDT for AMD are the existence of CME before treatment and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). In some cases, PCV caused massive subretinal hemorrhage and/or vitreous hemorrhage after treatment.