Purpose: To evaluate whether half-dose verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT) is better than natural history for the treatment of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).
Methods: Retrospective review of consecutive CSC patients treated with half-dose verteporfin PDT or untreated with observation and a minimum follow-up of 36 months. The main outcome measures included mean change in visual acuity and CSC recurrence. Survival analysis was performed to compare the CSC recurrence rates between the two groups.
Results: A total of 192 eyes of 192 patients were included; 75 eyes were treated with half-dose verteporfin PDT and 117 were untreated. The mean follow-up duration was 74.1 months. At the last follow-up, the mean logMAR visual acuity was significantly better in the half-dose verteporfin PDT group compared with the untreated control group (P=.005). The mean visual improvement of the half-dose verteporfin PDT group at the last follow-up was 1.8 lines, compared with 0.0 line in the untreated control group (P<.001). Recurrence of CSC developed in 15 eyes (20%) in the half-dose verteporfin PDT group compared with 63 eyes (53.8%) in the untreated control group (P<.001). Survival analysis demonstrated that eyes treated with half-dose verteporfin PDT were significantly less likely to develop CSC recurrence compared with untreated controls (P<.001). Regression analysis showed that half-dose verteporfin PDT was the only significant factor in reducing the risk of CSC recurrence.
Conclusions: Half-dose verteporfin PDT for the treatment of CSC resulted in significantly better visual acuity outcomes and lower recurrence rate in the long term compared with untreated controls.