This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
TTT may prevent leakage, preserve vision in exudative AMD
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Transpupillary thermotherapy could be effective in preserving vision and reducing choroidal neovascularization in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration, according to a British study.
Paris Tranos, FRCOphth, and colleagues at the Worthing General Hospital conducted the prospective, nonrandomized and unmasked study. All patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) due to age-related macular degeneration with an initial visual acuity between 6/9 and 6/60 were offered the opportunity to undergo transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT). Recruited subjects agreed to undergo TTT using an 810-nm diode laser with a beam size of 1.2 mm to 3 mm.
Thirty-one enrolled patients had occult or predominantly occult CNV, and five patients had classic or predominantly classic membranes. Follow-up averaged 6 months. After an average of 1.5 laser treatments, VA remained stable in 24 eyes, improved by more than one Snellen line in two eyes and decreased by more than two lines in 10 eyes. CNV closure was confirmed angiographically in 22 patients; membranes persisted in 11 eyes and recurred in three eyes.
The study is published in the October issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.