Treatment of choroidal neovascularization in central serous chorioretinopathy by photodynamic therapy with verteporfin

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the safety and efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin in the treatment of patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Design Open-label, two-center, noncomparative, prospective interventional case series. Methods Consecutive patients with subfoveal or juxtafoveal CNV secondary to CSC were recruited and treated with a standard regimen of PDT with verteporfin. At regular 3-month follow-up examinations, re-treatment was considered if fluorescein angiography showed evidence of leakage. Outcome measures included the proportion of patients who had improvement (gained 2 more lines), stable, or loss (dropped in 2 or more lines) in vision at the final follow-up and the changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from baseline. Results Ten eyes of 10 patients were recruited into the study. The mean age of the patients was 57.3 years with a mean follow-up duration of 12.6 months. At the last follow-up, six (60%) eyes gained 2 or more lines of BCVA with four (40%) patients having final BCVA of within 1 line. No patient lost 2 or more lines of BCVA. The mean logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution BCVA improvement after PDT was 2.4 lines (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P = .013). No patient suffered serious ocular or systemic complications from PDT. Conclusions Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin therapy is a safe and well-tolerated treatment in patients with CNV associated with CSC. A randomized, controlled trial with a longer follow-up period is warranted to further study the efficacy of PDT in the management of CNV secondary to CSC.