Laser treatment of choroidal neovascular membranes in angioid streaks

Eight patients with active extrafoveal choroidal neovascular membranes related to angioid streaks were studied. One eye of each of four patients was treated with argon laser. Two patients received bilateral treatment. Four patients received multiple treatments at different times for recurrence of neovascular membranes. Two patients were not treated. The visual acuity of the treated eyes remained the same or improved posttreatment, with one exception. The majority of untreated eyes lost vision. The vast majority of the treated eyes showed a marked improvement in central visual field posttreatment, whereas the untreated eyes remained the same or lost considerably more central visual field. In one to four years after treatment, recurrences of the neovascular membranes occurred in four of the treated eyes demonstrating that these cases must be followed indefinitely. Carefully selected cases appear to benefit from complete obliteration of choroidal neovascularization by argon laser photocoagulation.