ABSTRACT
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in developed countries (1), and choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is responsible for most of the severe visual loss (SVL) associated with AMD (2). Since the 1970s, laser photocoagulation had been recognized as a potentially beneficial treatment modality for CNV (3), and the initial report of the Macular Photocoagulation Study (MPS) Group (4) for the first time confirmed that argon laser photocoagulation of CNV guided by fluorescein angiography reduced the risk of SVL in AMD. In this chapter, the methodology and results of the MPS are reviewed and reinterpreted in light of the new data recently reported from the ongoing Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) trials (5). In addition, results generated from case series and trials of laser photocoagulation for CNV outside of the MPS are presented and discussed.
