Long-term visual acuity after argon green laser photocoagulation of juxtafoveal choroidal neovascularization in highly myopic eyes.

PURPOSE: To evaluate visual outcomes in patients with high myopia afterjuxtafoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) treated with argon green laser photocoagulation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 23 eyes of 21 patients with high myopia (>6.0 diopters and/or axial length >26 mm) with juxta foveal CNV treated with direct Argon green laser photocoagulation. Mean age at diagnosis was 49.08+/-12.20 years (range, 29 to 71). Mean follow-up was 54.26+/-26.18 months (range 18 to 96).
RESULTS: Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before treatment was 0.09+/-0.10 (range, 0.01 to 0.40). Two months after treatment it was 0.14+/-0.12 (0.01 to 0.6), significant difference (p=0.02, Student's t-test forpaired data) and aftersix months 0.19+/-0.14 (0.01 to 0.5) (p=0.0002). Mean BCVA decreased with follow-up, to 0.19+/-0.15 (0.01 to 0.4) after two years, 0.16+/-0.15 (0.01 to 0.5) after three years and 0.16+/-0.19 (0.01 to 0.7) after four years, with no significant improvement after the third year (p=0.04). In two cases CNV reappeared.
CONCLUSIONS: Direct argon green laser photocoagulation in high-myopia juxtafoveal CNV can improve BCVA initially for between two and 24 months. The improvement fades with time, and is no longer significant after the third year.