Argon laser photocoagulation for the treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy

To evaluate the efficacy of conventional argon laser for the treatment of serosanguineous maculopathy secondary to polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

A retrospective audit of patients who had argon laser photocoagulation to angiographically determined polypoidal lesions and subsequently followed up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post treatment.

Twenty-one eyes (75%) had stable or improved vision at 12 months. Twenty-three eyes had extrafoveal, two eyes had juxtafoveal, and three eyes had subfoveal polyps. In the extrafoveal group, 18 eyes (78%) had stable or improved vision at 12 months. Eighteen eyes (64.3%) showed clinical or angiographic resolution of maculopathy. Three eyes (10.7%) had recurrence of polyps subfoveally, three eyes (10.7%) had subsequent choroidal neovascularisation, and four eyes (14.3%) had persistent leakage with neurosensory detachment.

In our study, 18 of the 23 eyes which had extrafoveal polyps had stable or improved best-corrected visual acuity and showed complete resolution of maculopathy at 12 months follow-up. Argon laser photocoagulation would appear to be most beneficial for extrafoveal PCV. However, in view of the retrospective nature of this study, the true efficacy of argon laser treatment would have to be evaluated with a larger, prospective and randomised controlled trial.