Two-year visual outcome of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy treated with photodynamic therapy combined with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab

To investigate the 2-year outcomes of photodynamic therapy (PDT) combined with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Ninety-five eyes with subfoveal PCV treated with combined therapy were followed for ≥24 months. The association between visual outcomes and single nucleotide polymorphisms in ARMS2 A69S and CFH I62V genes were examined without adjusting for multiple comparisons.

Visual acuity (VA) improvement was observed at month 3 (P = 0.009). The improvement persisted until month 12 (P = 0.003), when VA began the decline back to baseline values at month 24. To investigate the factors associated with VA reduction during the second year, patients were divided into those with and those without a second-year VA reduction. Both patients with and without a second-year VA reduction showed similar VA changes over the first year. The first-year VA improvement was not predictive of the VA decline over the second year. Genetic analyses showed no significant difference in the frequency of the A risk allele of CFH I62V between patients with and without a second-year VA reduction. However, patients with the T risk allele of A69S had a higher rate of recurrence and were more likely to experience a reduction in VA during the second year when compared to patients without (P = 0.020 and P = 0.048, respectively).

PDT combined therapy resulted in significant visual recovery in the first year, which was not sustained during the second year. VA reduction in the second year was affected by genetic factors.