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PDT does not prevent loss of central fixation: study

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LUBECK, Germany — Photodynamic therapy did not prevent loss of foveal fixation in patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization in age-related maculopathy, according to a study here. However, PDT did have a significant stabilizing effect on the growth of the area of fixation, the report authors noted.

Patients participating in the Treatment of AMD with Photodynamic Therapy study (TAP study) of Visudyne (verteporfin for injection, Novartis Ophthalmics) were analyzed using microperimetry. Their fixation was classified as foveal or eccentric. All patients were followed for 2 years.

Of 33 patients in the verteporfin group, 29 showed foveal fixation at baseline. Eleven of those 33 had foveal fixation at 2 years. In a placebo group, 11 of 13 patients had foveal fixation at baseline. This dropped to two of 13 after 2 years.

The area of fixation increased in both groups over the course of follow-up, but less in the treatment group than in the placebo group.

The research in published in the August Issue of Der Ophthalmologe.