Patient Education
Photodynamic Therapy
In-office · about 30 minutes including infusion
Photodynamic therapy pairs a light-activated drug with a cool, low-energy laser. Verteporfin is infused into a vein, circulates through the body, and concentrates in abnormal or leaking blood vessels.
Photodynamic therapy pairs a light-activated drug with a cool, low-energy laser. Verteporfin is infused into a vein, circulates through the body, and concentrates in abnormal or leaking blood vessels. A laser aimed at the target area then activates the drug only where the light lands, closing those vessels while largely sparing the retina above them. Once a mainstay for wet AMD, it is used today mainly for chronic central serous retinopathy and for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, often at a reduced dose.
What It Treats
- Chronic central serous retinopathy
- Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy
- Choroidal hemangioma
- Selected cases of wet macular degeneration
What to Expect
Before
You will have angiography first — fluorescein and usually indocyanine green — so the treatment area can be mapped precisely. An IV is placed in your arm on the day of treatment.
During
The verteporfin is infused over about ten minutes, followed by a short wait for it to reach the target. The laser is then applied through a contact lens for roughly eighty seconds. The laser portion is painless and there is no bright flash or afterimage as with conventional laser.
After
You can go home the same day, but you will be sensitive to bright light throughout your body — not just your eyes — for about five days, because the drug remains in your skin.
Recovery & Restrictions
- Strict sun protection for five days is the single most important instruction. Direct sunlight or intense light on exposed skin can cause a serious burn while the drug is still circulating.
- Cover your skin fully — long sleeves, long pants, gloves, a wide-brimmed hat — and wear dark sunglasses when outdoors. Sunscreen does not protect against this; it blocks ultraviolet light, and the drug is activated by visible light.
- Ordinary indoor lighting is fine and actually helps clear the drug from your system faster, so there is no need to sit in the dark.
- Avoid tanning beds, and tell any other doctor or dentist treating you in that window about the bright examination and surgical lights.
- Vision may be blurry for several days. The treatment effect is assessed on OCT at roughly four to eight weeks, and a second session is sometimes needed.
Risks & Side Effects
Skin burn from light exposure
The main risk, and it is entirely preventable by following the five-day precautions. Reactions range from redness to significant blistering.
Back pain during the infusion
A well-recognized and harmless reaction that occurs in some patients while the drug is running, and resolves when the infusion stops.
Temporary vision decrease
Vision often dips for days to weeks after treatment before improving.
Damage to the tissue beneath the retina
Treatment can thin the pigment layer or reduce blood flow in the choroid at the treated spot. Reduced-dose protocols were developed largely to limit this.
Infusion site reactions
Leakage of the drug outside the vein can irritate the skin, which is why the IV is checked before the infusion begins.
Every procedure carries risk, and this list is not exhaustive. Your doctor will discuss the risks that apply to your eye and your circumstances before you decide.