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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
An In-House-Built and Light-Emitting-Diode-Based Photodynamic Therapy Device for Enhancing Verteporfin Cytotoxicity in a 2D Cell Culture Model
Published on: January 13, 2023
[Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: long-term results]
Masaaki Saito1, Dai Nagayama, Tomohiro Iida
1Department of Ophthalmology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Japan. smasaaki@fmu.ac.jp
Purpose:
To evaluate the long term efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin in Japanese patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed 128 eyes of 125 patients with PCV over a 6-month follow-up. The mean age was 75 years. The follow-up period was 6 to 36 (mean, 17.8) months. Results were evaluated studying visual acuity, fundus findings, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, and optical coherence tomography.
Results:
Ninety two eyes were observed for 12 months, and 39 eyes were observed for 24 months after initial PDT. The mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved from 0.21 at baseline to 0.28 (p<0.01) at 12 months, and 0.26 (p=0.09) at 24 months, respectively. Nine eyes had decreased BCVA of three or more lines at 24 months. Eyes associated with type 2 CNV needed significantly more repeated treatments (p<0.001) than eyes without it. Nineteen eyes had polypoidal lesions that recurred 6 to 21 months (mean, 14) after the initial PDT application.
Conclusions:
The current study showed that PDT is effective for patients with PCV eyes over the long term. Visual complications or recurrence of polypoidal lesions were observed in some patients over the long term. Further studies are needed to determine the efficacy of other treatments besides PDT.