Treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with photodynamic therapy. 2002.

Purpose: To study the effects of photodynamic therapy using verteporfin in the treatment of patients with subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 16 consecutive patients with subfoveal PCV treated with photodynamic therapy using verteporfin was performed.

Results: The mean age of the patients involved was 70.

Collagen fillers in facial aesthetic surgery.

The search for an ideal facial augmentation agent continues. Patient evaluation, choice of augmentation agent, and injection technique are discussed.

Sunglasses- and photochromic lens-wearing patterns in spectacle and/or contact lens-wearing individuals.

Purpose: To determine differences in wearing patterns of sunglasses and/or photochromic lenses in spectacle and contact lens wearers, to assess patient awareness of the indications for the use of tinted lenses, and to identify wearers' lens tint preferences.

Methods: A total of 100 individuals wearing some combination of contact lenses and spectacles participated in a survey questionnaire composed of 14 questions. Participants were asked if they used sunglasses/photochromic lenses, why they used them, their preferred lens tints, and temporal and seasonal patterns of use.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy was first described as a peculiar hemorrhagic disorder of the macula, characterized by recurrent sub-retinal and sub-retinal pigment epithelium bleeding in middle aged black women. The use of indocyanine green angiography and subsequently of optical coherent tomography has widened our ability to study and understand the pathophysiology of this disorder. The primary abnormality involves the choroidal circulation, and the characteristic lesion is an inner choroidal vascular network of vessels ending in an aneurysmal bulge or outward projection, visible clinically as a reddish orange, spheroid, polyp-like structure.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy seems to be a distinct clinical entity that should be differentiated from other types of CNV associated with AMD and other known choroidal degenerative, inflammatory, and ischemic disorders. The principle abnormality seen in PCV, notably the branching vascular network and polypoidal structures at the borders of the lesion, seem to be unique to the disorder. In patients with serosanguineous detachment of the pigment epithelium, particularly in those with increased risk factors such as African American or Asian race, ICG should be performed to evaluate the choroidal vascular abnormality to establish a more definitive diagnosis.

Antiangiogenesis agents.

Although these preliminary results on the use of antiangiogenesis drugs for the treatment of neovascular AMD appear promising, double-masked, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trials are needed to demonstrate the therapeutic efficacy of such treatments. For example, the first antiangiogenesis drug tested in AMD, interferon alpha-2a, raised great enthusiasm. Indeed, interferon alpha-2a had been shown to be antiangiogenic in animal and in vitro models.

Treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with photodynamic therapy.

Purpose: To study the effects of photodynamic therapy using verteporfin in the treatment of patients with subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 16 consecutive patients with subfoveal PCV treated with photodynamic therapy using verteporfin was performed.

Results: The mean age of the patients involved was 70.