The Past and Present of Photodynamic Therapy in Ophthalmology

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) in ophthalmology is a therapeutic modality for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). PDT was expected to treat exudative lesion with minimum effect on normal tissue and became the first-choice intervention for AMD for years. However, when the visual outcome of PDT was reported to be inferior than that of the latest anti-VEGF therapy, PDT was no longer performed thereafter except of some specific phenotype of AMD which is still a good candidate of PDT by now. This review article summarizes the past and present of PDT in ophthalmology.