Purpose: In a study to determine the effectiveness of ionizing radiation on the deterioration of visual acuity (VA) due to choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) the affected eyes of 10 patients were treated with a total dose of 24 Gy (6 Gy fractions). A special lens-sparing technique was used to avoid cataract development. During 30 months of follow-up the visual acuity (VA) and scar size (SS) of the treated eyes and fellow eyes of all 10 patients were evaluated.
Results: After 30 months of follow-up 5 eyes showed a stable VA and fluorescein angiogram (FA) appearance. Concerning 4 out of 5 eyes with progressive disease, the 4 eyes treated with radiation therapy had better VA and smaller SS as compared with the untreated fellow eyes with exudative AMD.
Conclusions: The results suggest that 24 Gy either stabilizes or delays the deleterious effects of CNV on the visual acuity. Until now no late side effects have been observed.