Verteporfin Therapy of Subfoveal Occult Choroidal Neovascularization in AMD Using Delayed Light Application: One-year Results of the VALIO Study

Purpose: To compare photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin (Visudyne; Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland) using either standard or delayed light application. Design: Phase II, multicenter, masked, randomized clinical trial. Methods: Sixty patients with occult with no classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) resulting from age-related macular degeneration were assigned randomly (1:1) to verteporfin infusion followed by light application either at 15 minutes (standard light) or 30 minutes (delayed light) after the start of the infusion. The assigned treatment was repeated every three months if fluorescein leakage was detected. Results: At month 12, patients lost a mean of 15.7 letters and 11.4 letters from baseline in the standard and delayed light groups, respectively (P = .38). Twelve (52%) of 23 patients in the standard light group and 11 (42%) of 26 in the delayed light group lost at least 15 letters of visual acuity (P = .57). Conclusions: There were no statistically significant differences between verteporfin therapy using the delayed light regimen of 30 minutes or the standard light regimen of 15 minutes in eyes with occult with no classic CNV.