Clinical Interventions in Aging (Jun 2009)
A case of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Periphery is equally important for such patients
Abstract
Dimitrios A Karagiannis, Vasilios Soublis, Artemios Kandarakis1st Ophthalmology Department of Ophthalmiatrio Eye Hospital of Athens, Athens, GreeceBackground: To report a case of peripheral polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) which was treated successfully.Methods: Interventional case report. Best-corrected visual acuity measurements (BCVA), slit-lamp examination, fundus biomicroscopy, fluorescein angiography (FFA), and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were performed at baseline examination and during the follow-up period. The patient underwent ICGA-guided argon laser to treat the active polyps. Results: An 82-year-old Caucasian man presented complaining of sudden deterioration of peripheral vision in his left eye (LE). His previous ocular history was associated with advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) involving both eyes (BE). Fundus examination revealed macular scars in BE and a large hemorrhagic pigment epithelial detachment (PED) temporal to the macula in the LE. ICGA revealed active polyps at the margins of the PED. The patient underwent ICGA-guided argon laser to treat the active polyps. Six months post-laser, the patient regained his peripheral vision with resolution of the hemorrhagic PED and remains stable until now, one year after treatment.Conclusions: Appropriate treatment and regular follow-up is important in patients with PCV and peripheral lesions even if central vision is lost.Keywords: argon laser, peripheral vision, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy
