2007 Volume 35 Issue 8 Pages 503-508
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of legal blindness in developed countries. No effective treatments had existed until Photodynamic therapy using Verteporfin was approved following clinical trials. Treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration With Photodynamic therapy investigation (TAP investigation) was carried out in United States and Europe and the Japanese Age-related Macular Degeneration Trial (JAT) was in Japan. TAP investigation showed a reduction of moderate and severe vision loss compared with placebo treatment although mean visual acuity decreased even in the PDT group. On the other hands, mean visual acuity was maintained or slightly improved in JAT study. More recently, anti-VEGF drugs, including antibody or aptamer have been shown to be effective for AMD and achieved improvement of mean visual acuity. A combination therapy of PDT and anti-VEGF drugs might achieve further improvement of vision and could become the first choice for AMD treatments
