Retinal pigment epithelium decompensation. II. Laser treatment.

Forty-one of 97 eyes with retinal pigment epithelium decompensation (RPED) were treated with monochromatic green argon laser photocoagulation to the focal area of RPE staining detected in the late fluorescein transit. Nineteen eyes were treated because of progressive visual deterioration. The other 22 eyes already had visual acuities of 20/50 or worse. Vision stabilized or improved in 34 eyes (82.9%) after an average of 1.6 years following treatment, compared with improvement in only 5 of 56 untreated eyes after an average follow-up period of 2.1 years. After an average follow-up of 7.1 years, 12 of 97 eyes with RPED developed choroidal neovascularization (9 spontaneously and 3 after photocoagulation) in the area where late RPE staining had been observed.