Rapid Fire Saturday 19 May 08:00 - 09:32 Salle des Princes
N. Gomes, A. Melo, Â. Carneiro, R. Martinho, S. Penas, F. Falcão-Reis,
PORTUGAL
Long-term follow-up results of photodynamic therapy for treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to pathologic myopia
PURPOSE: To evaluate the long term efficacy and safety of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathologic myopia. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital São João, Porto, Portugal. METHODS: A retrospective, noncomparative, interventional case series of 28 eyes of 25 patients with choroidal neovascularization secondary to pathologic myopia (refractive error of more than -6 diopters or axial length of more than 26.5 mm). 27 eyes had sub-foveal CNV, 1 eye had justa-foveal CNV. One eye had previous laser treatment. Average lesion greatest linear diameter was 2160 µm. PDT was performed according to the VIP trial protocol, the follow-up period was of at least 30 months. Need for retreatment was based on fluorescein angiographic evidence of leakage at 3 month follow-up intervals. Visual acuity was evaluated using the ETDRS chart. RESULTS: Initial visual acuity (VA) varied between less than 5 letters and 75 letters in the ETDRS chart; 14 eyes had a score of 35 letters or less. Mean follow-up was 42.5 months and the mean number of treatments was 4.4. Final visual acuity ranged between less than 5 and 80 letters with 10 patients having an improvement in VA. 11 patients (39%) had a final ETDRS score of less than 35 letters (20/200), 17 eyes lost less than 8 ETDRS letters and 5 eyes lost more than 15 ETDRS letters. There were no significant side effects associated with the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: PDT remains the only approved therapy for myopic CNV. Our results show a beneficial effect of PDT in the treatment of myopic CNV when considering the natural history of the disease and that this benefit is maintained in the long-term. There were no adverse effects registered.
