Patient-Perceived Benefit of Treatment in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), a subtype of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, requires repeated treatment. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate and compare vision-targeted quality of life (QOL) at baseline and after 6 months of treatment in patients with PCV. Naive PCV patients were recruited. Visual functions assessed were distance visual acuity (DVA), near visual acuity (NVA), contrast sensitivity (CS), reading speed (RS), and QOL at baseline and after 6 months of treatment. Thirty patients (average age of 67.62 ± 8.05 years) revealed mean DVA and NVA improvements of 0.24 logMAR and 0.30 logMAR, respectively. Mean CS and RS improved by 0.39 log contrast and 25.58 words per minute, respectively. The National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (NEI-VFQ-25) composite score significantly increased from a baseline of 66.73 ± 13.74 to 73.54 ± 14.26. Twenty-eight of the patients showed overall improvement in QOL score by 5 units or more or remained stable. Subscales of NEI-VFQ-25 significantly improved, with general vision, mental health, and role difficulties improving by 10 or more units. The present pilot study reports a significant improvement of QOL in PCV patients after 6 months of treatment, with mental health, role difficulties, social functioning, and distance vision activities being the most improved subscales.