What is photodynamic therapy, when is it used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and what are the risks/benefits?
Photodynamic therapy is a treatment that uses a drug that’s introduced intravenously and then travels to the target tissue — in this case, the macula — and the drug is then activated by laser light. The activated drug then injures the abnormal blood vessel wall and causes them to clot. When we only had photocoagulation, it was not really selective at all, and one ended up with a scar and damaged retina whereever you treated, and it was really not very effective if you were trying to treat the abnormal blood vessels right in the center of the macula.
