Abstract
The efficacy of photodynamic therapy using porphymer sodium for occlusion of corneal neovascularization has been evaluated experimentally. After the corneal neovascularization had been developed on albino rabbit eyes by a pellet mounting method, 2 mg/kg of porphymer sodium was administered intravenously. Argon green laser (514nm) was irradiated to the cornea with three varieties of energy at 24, 48, 72 and 95 hours after the administration, respectively. Slit-lamp examination, fluorescein angiography and light microscopic study were performed to observe whether the corneal new veesls were closed or not. With the exposure energy more than 38.2 J/cm2, new vessels were occluded but surrounding normal tissues in the irradiation area such as the iris were severly damaged. Irradiation with exposure energy of 19.1 J./cm2 during 24 and 72 hours after the administration of porphymer sodium was estimated more suitable to the treatment, because new vessel clusure was obtained with a mild damage of the surrounding normal tissue. Since new vessels were not closed in control groups which received laser irradiation without photosensitizer administration, it was supposed that the closure was not induced by thermal effect. The results of the present study suggested that photodynamic therapy using this photosensitizer was a new useful therapeutic agent for occlusion of ocular neovascularization.
