Interferon alfa-2a in the treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration

Nineteen patients (20 eyes) with the exudative form of macular degeneration were treated with parenteral interferon alfa-2a. Fifteen patients (16 eyes) had adequate follow-up for evaluation of outcome of the exudative macular lesion. The average follow-up was 8 months (range 5-11 months). Color photographs and fluorescein angiograms were evaluated independently by two masked readers for change in size, presence of fibrosis, and leakage of the neovascular lesion. During the follow-up, none of the exudative lesions resolved: one lesion became smaller, four remained the same, nine enlarged, and two could not be graded based on the photographs. Visual acuity remained 20/40 or better in four eyes. The proportion of eyes with visual acuity of 20/200 or worse increased from 35% at the initial visit to 59% at the final visit. Ten patients experienced significant but reversible side effects, including weight loss, depression, and/or hematopoietic suppression. The data from these cases do not support any significant treatment benefit from interferon alfa-2a at the doses used in exudative macular degeneration.