[Clinical study of photodynamic therapy with visudyne for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy]

To study the clinical effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with Visudyne for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Ten patients (10 eyes) with PCV who were diagnosed by fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), optic coherence tomography (OCT) were treated by PDT with Visudyne. Eight cases (8 eyes) were male, the other two cases (2 eyes) were female. Their ages ranged from 50 to 77 years, mean (59.5 +/- 9.70) years. The best corrected visual activity (BCVA) before PDT was 0.1 - 0.5. The changes of BCVA, fundus photography, FFA and ICGA before and after PDT were compared. Follow-up time varied from 6 months to 36 months, mean 24 months.

1 month after PDT the BCVA was found to be unchanged in 4 eyes, increased in 1 line in 3 eyes, increased in 2 lines in 2 eyes, decreased in 3 lines in 1 eye. FFA and/or ICGA showed no leakage in 4 eyes, leakage reduced in 3 eyes, slight leakage in 2 eyes. At the last follow-up, the BCVA was found to be unchanged in 4 eyes, increased in 1 line in 2 eyes, increased in 2 lines in 2 eyes, increased in 3 lines in 1 eye which received 3 times PDT, decreased in 2 lines in 1 eye. FFA/ICGA showed no leakage in 7 eyes, slight leakage in 2 eyes. No systemic or local adverse effect was found during or after PDT, except 1 eye with extensive subretinal hemorrhage suffered vitreous hemorrhage one month after PDT.

Photodynamic therapy with Visudyne may stop or reduce the macular leakage, facilitate the absorption of hemorrhage, exudates and edema, stabilize or increase the patients' visual activities. It could be a choice for the treatment of PCV. Certainly these tendencies need to be confirmed in a multi-center randomized controlled investigation with longer follow-up time.