Indocyanine green angiography-guided photocoagulation of choroidal neovascularization associated with retinal pigment epithelial detachment

PURPOSE: To determine visual acuity outcome after indocyanine green angiography-guided laser photocoagulation of choroidal neovascularization associated with pigment epithelial detachment in eyes with age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed pretreatment and posttreatment visual acuity after laser photocoagulation to well-demarcated hyperfluorescent areas seen with indocyanine green angiography adjacent to or within pigment epithelial detachments in 20 eyes of 20 patients with age related macular degeneration and suspected choroidal neovascularization. RESULTS: Visual acuity before and after laser photocoagulation was followed up for 3 to 24 months (median, 9 months). At 3 months after laser photocoagulation, visual acuity had im proved 2 or more Snellen lines in two eyes (10%), worsened by 2 or more lines in 10 (50%), and remained unchanged in eight of 20 (40%). By 6 months after laser photocoagulation, visual acuity had improved by 2 or more lines in two eyes (12%), worsened by 2 or more lines in nine (53%), and remained unchanged in six of 17 (35%). At 9 months after laser photocoagulation, visual acuity had improved by 2 or more lines in one eye (9%), worsened by 2 or more lines in nine (82%), and remained unchanged in one of 11 (9%). CONCLUSIONS: Indocyanine green angiography-guided laser photocoagulation may temporarily stabilize visual acuity in some eyes with choroidal neovascularization associated with pigment epithelial detachments, but final visual acuity decreases with time.