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LETTER TO EDITOR |
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Year : 2010 | Volume
: 58
| Issue : 6 | Page : 553-554 |
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Authors' reply
Yoshinori Mitamura1, Masayasu Kitahashi2, Mariko Kubota-Taniai2, Shuichi Yamamoto2
1 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670; Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, 3-18-15 Kuramoto, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan 2 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Date of Web Publication | 16-Oct-2010 |
Correspondence Address: Yoshinori Mitamura Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, 3-18-15 Kuramoto, Tokushima 770-8503 Japan
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
How to cite this article: Mitamura Y, Kitahashi M, Kubota-Taniai M, Yamamoto S. Authors' reply. Indian J Ophthalmol 2010;58:553-4 |
Dear Editor,
We appreciate the comments by Chhablani [1] regarding our article. [2] The best treatment for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) has still not been established. Our results suggest that photodynamic therapy (PDT) may be more effective than intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) shortly after treatment for PCV. However, we did not evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR). Ranibizumab is a smaller molecule than bevacizumab, and the penetration of ranibizumab into the subretinal pigment epithelium space might be better than that of bevacizumab. As mentioned in our article, further studies to evaluate the efficacy of other anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents and combination therapy of PDT and anti-VEGF agents are required and ongoing.
In reply to the first comment "it might be difficult to treat multiple widely distributed lesions with a single beam of PDT," we usually treat polyps in and around the macula with a single beam of PDT and other remote lesions are not treated or treated using direct photocoagulation. Tsujikawa et al. [3] reported that such remote lesions have only a minor effect on the visual outcome.
With respect to the second comment "it can be difficult to treat polyps in the peripapillary area with PDT," no eye had polyps around the disc in this study. Especially in Asians, the peripalliary PCV was reported to be rare as compared with macular PCV. [3]
In reply to the third comment, we know that large submacular hemorrhage due to PCV cannot be treated with PDT. We usually treat PCV with large submacular hemorrhage using intravitreal gas injection followed by PDT or IVB, and such cases were not included in this study.
With respect to the fourth comment, we know that repeated PDT may lead to choroidal damage. However, it has been reported that PDT combined with IVR in an animal model did not adversely affect the recanalization of the choriocapillaris as compared with PDT alone, [4] suggesting that choroidal damage due to PDT may be reduced by combining with it. Ruamviboonsuk et al. [5] reported that there was no permanent nonperfusion affecting choriocapillaris after the combination therapy of PDT and IVR. Sato et al. [6] reported that the combination therapy of PDT and IVB may reduce the retreatment rate and the occurrence of subsequent submacular hemorrhage as compared with PDT monotherapy. As for other adverse events, retinal pigment epithelial tear can occur not only after PDT but also after IVB. [7]
In reply to the comment "considering the economic burden associated with PDT," continuous monthly IVR is more expensive than PDT. Most recently, it has been reported that combination therapy of PDT and IVR for PCV showed encouraging results concerning visual acuity (VA), incidence of subretinal hemorrhage, and recurrence of polyps. [5] VA improvement 6 months after IVR was reported to be 7.2 letters, [8] but VA improvement after combination therapy of PDT and IVR was 11.6 letters. [5] Kokame et al. [8] described that visual outcomes of IVR monotherapy for PCV may be worse than those for exudative age-related macular degeneration. Taken together, we disagree with the comment "anti-VEGF drugs alone could be the preferred treatment for symptomatic PCV."
References | | |
1. | Chhabalani JK. Disadvantages of photodynamic therapy for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol 2010;58:552-3. |
2. | Mitamura Y, Kitahashi M, Kubota-Taniai M, Yamamoto S. Comparison of intravitreal bevacizumab to photodynamic therapy for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: Short-term results. Indian J Ophthalmol 2010;58:291-6 |
3. | Tsujikawa A, Nakanishi H, Ojima Y, Iwama D, Tamura H, Otani A, et al. Macular polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with a remote lesion. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol 2008;36:817-23. [ PUBMED] [ FULLTEXT] |
4. | Kim IK, Husain D, Michaud N, Connolly E, Lane AM, Durrani K, et al. Effect of intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in combination with verteporfin PDT on normal primate retina and choroid. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2006;47:357-63. [ PUBMED] [ FULLTEXT] |
5. | Ruamviboonsuk P, Tadarati M, Vanichvaranont S, Hanutsaha P, Pokawattana N. Photodynamic therapy combined with ranibizumab for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: Results of a 1-year preliminary study. Br J Ophthalmol online publication. 2010. [In Press]. |
6. | Sato T, Kishi S, Matsumoto H, Mukai R. Combined photodynamic therapy with verteporfin and intravitreal bevacizumab for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Am J Ophthalmol 2010;149:947-54. [ PUBMED] [ FULLTEXT] |
7. | Peng CH, Cheng CK, Chiou SH. Retinal pigment epithelium tear after intravitreal bevacizumab injection for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Eye 2009;23:2126-9. [ PUBMED] [ FULLTEXT] |
8. | Kokame GT, Yeung L, Lai JC. Continuous anti-VEGF treatment with ranibizumab for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: 6-month results. Br J Ophthalmol 2010;94:297-301. [ PUBMED] [ FULLTEXT] |
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