Visudyne™
Photodynamic Therapy
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a treatment for wet
age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), a disease
that involves abnormal blood vessel growth in the
macula.
 PDT with Visudyne™
can stabilize vision and significantly reduce the
risk of vision loss in certain patients with wet
ARMD. Additionally, PDT with Visudyne has been
proven to help slow
abnormal vessel growth in
patients with wet ARMD.
Visudyne™ therapy is a two-step procedure that can
be performed in the doctor's office. First,
the Visudyne™, a light-sensitive drug, is injected
intravenously into the patient's arm. As the
drug flows naturally through the body's vascular
system, it will pass into the abnormal blood vessels
in the macula at the back of the eye. The drug
is then activated by shining a non-thermal or "cold"
laser into the patient's eye.
After the treatment, the patient is instructed to
avoid exposure to direct sunlight for two days.
After these two days, the patient may resume normal
outdoor activities without any special precautions.
Because this is a multi-course therapy, the patient
will likely receive more than one Visudyne™ treatment if
Dr. Deupree believes it
will be beneficial to them. |
