Turkish Abstract Abstract Article PDF Similar Articles Mail to Author

¹S.B. Beyoğlu Göz Eğitim ve Araş. Hastanesi, İstanbul, Uzm. Dr.
²S.B. Beyoğlu Göz Eğitim ve Araş. Hastanesi, İstanbul, Doç. Dr.
³S.B. Beyoğlu Göz Eğitim ve Araş. Hastanesi, İstanbul, Asist. Dr.
⁴S.B. Beyoğlu Göz Eğitim ve Araş. Hastanesi, İstanbul, Prof. Dr. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of triple therapy in patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascular membrane (SCNM) due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) as a primary treatment or as a secondary treatment in patients that were unresponsive to prior photodynamic therapy (PDT).
Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine eyes of 26 patients (10 male, 16 female, mean age: 71.2 years) with SCNM related to AMD were evaluated retrospectively. Patients that had no previous PDT constituted Group 1 (17 eyes), and patients that underwent previous PDT constituted Group 2 (12 eyes). Intravitreal injection of 2 mg triamcinolone acetonide combined with 1.25 mg bevacizumab was performed within 10 days period before or after PDT.
Results: The mean follow-up was 7.6 months (range, 3-18 months).The average Snellen visual acuity was 0.13±0.02 (± standard error of mean) at the baseline and 0.21±0.03 at the final visit (p=0.02). In Group 1 the mean baseline Snellen visual acuity improved from 0.11±0.03 to 0.26±0.05 at the last visit (p=0.004), whereas in Group 2 the mean visual acuity remained the same (0.16±0.02 versus 0.14±0.02, p=0.46). At the last follow-up, hyperfluorescence on angiography representing the activity of the membrane was evident in 8 eyes (47%) in Group 1, and in 10 eyes (83%) in Group 2. At the final visit, 11 eyes (38%) were leakage-free on fluorescein angiography.
Conclusion: Triple therapy for SCNM improves visual acuity when used as a primary treatment and stabilizes visual acuity in eyes refractory to prior PDT. Keywords : Choroidal neovascular membrane, intravitreal triamcinolone, intravitreal bevacizumab, photodynamic therapy