Background: Ten years have passed since subretinal surgery for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was developed. Many reports regarding the visual outcome after subretinal surgery have been published, which have revealed the role of the subretinal surgery, including long-term visual outcome and surgical complications.
Method: Reports associated with subretinal surgery published in the past decade were used to clarify the indication for surgery, visual outcome, and surgical complications.
Results: The visual prognosis for patients with surgically excited CNV is variable, depending on the underlying disease. Patients with widespread defects of Bruch's membrane and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), such as age-related macular degeneration, are probably not good candidates for surgery from the standpoint of recovering good visual acuity. On the other hand, patients with focal abnormalities in Bruch's membrane and the RPE, such as presumed ocular histoplasmosis or idiopathic CNV, may be good candidates for surgery. However, it has not been proved that subretinal surgery is superior to photocoagulation or observation.
Conclusions: For the time being, we have to select patients for subretinal surgery on the basis of published reports. The Submacular Surgery Trial now being held in the United States will evaluate the role of subretinal surgery in the management of patients with choroidal neovascularization.