Corneal Laser Procedure for safety and efficacy in vision improvement

Purpose: To determine the safety and efficacy of corneal
photovitrification (CPV), a corneal laser procedure, for vision
improvement in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration
(nAMD) and other retinal disorders involving central vision loss. Design:
Retrospective observational cohort study. Methods: In this retrospective
observational case series, 72 eyes of 54 patients received a single CPV
treatment. Examinations included pre- and post-treatment (post-Tx)
best-corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA) and pre-Tx potential visual
acuity (PVA). Results: Safety - No clinically significant complications or
serious adverse events were observed. Efficacy – Mean BCDVA improved
significantly from 20/303 (1.18 logMAR, 26 letters) at baseline to 20/208
(1.02 logMAR, 34 letters) at 1m post-Tx (p = 0.000001) for a cohort of 57
eyes, improving to 20/198 (1.00 logMAR, 35 letters; 11.0 mean letters
gained) at 12m (p = 0.0009) for a cohort of 29 eyes. Screening – Mean
pre-Tx PVA gains correlated well with mean BCDVA improvements at 1m, 3m,
6m and 12m post-Tx. Conclusions: Subject to a small sample size, the CPV
corneal laser procedure is safe and efficacious for vision improvement in
patients with nAMD and other retinal disorders involving central vision
loss. The PVA test is useful for screening of candidate eyes for CPV
treatment and for managing expectations.