One-year results after radiotherapy of choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration

Summary Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with age-related macular degeneration is the major cause of legal blindness in Europe and the USA in patients aged more than 65 years, but Chakravarthy et al. has reported that radiotherapy has a beneficial effect on visual acuity. Methods: Since March 1996 we have treated 56 patients in cooperation with the Department of Radiotherapy at the Technical University in Munich. The total dose with external beam radiotherapy was 16 Gy in 8 fractions, delivered through an anterior oblique axis to spare the lens. Before the treatment and 3, 6 and 12 months after therapy, we performed a standardized visual acuity and contrast-sensitivity test (ETDRS, Pelli Robson Chard) and fluorescin angiography 6 and 12 months after therapy. Results: Twenty-five angiograms showed well-defined CNV and 31 not well-defined CNV. Six months after the treatment 15 patients had stable visual acuity within one line. Twenty-seven patients had lost more than one line of visual acuity. There was no difference between well and not well defined CNV's. One year after treatment the visual acuity remained stable within one line in 4 patients, no patient had an increase of two lines or more and 17 patients lost more then 2 lines of vision. We saw no side effects other than sicca symptoms in 3 patients. Conclusion: In our opinion, these results do not show that radiation treatment has a real beneficial effect on visual acuity. Further randomized studies are needed to demonstrate the efficiency of this treatment for choroidal neovascularization in AMD.