Purpose: To evaluate five-year visual outcomes of typical age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in patients who received photodynamic therapy (PDT) as initial treatment compared with the outcomes of patients prior to the PDT era.
Subjects and Methods: Twenty-three eyes observed for 5 years before PDT was available (group A: typical AMD/PCV 16 eyes/7 eyes) and 61 eyes which had been observed for 5 years after PDT with additional treatment as needed (group B: typical AMD/PCV 25 eyes/36 eyes). The visual changes in these groups were retrospectively compared.
Results: In group A of typical AMD patients, the mean visual acuity (VA, logMAR) was significantly worse at the 3-year visit and later. In group B of typical AMD patients, the VA was stabilized after 2 years and no significant mean VA deterioration was observed for 5 years. More patients in group B retained a logMAR of less than 1.0 (43% vs. 25%) than in group A. Those patients in group B with PCV, maintained the VA for one year, but it gradually worsened thereafter.
Conclusion: The PDT shortened the duration of VA deterioration in typical AMD patients from 5 to 2 years with no significant VA decrease for 5 years. The positive effect of PDT on PCV eyes was temporary.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 116: 937-945, 2012.