• Tarun Sharma, Nitant Shah, Lingam Gopal, Mahesh P Shanmugam, Pramod Bhende, Muna Bhende, Nitin S Shetty, and B Sukumar.
• Shri Bihagwan Mahavir Vitreoretinal Services, Sankara Nethralaya, Vision Research Foundiation, 18 College Road, Chennai-600 006, India.
• Ophthal Surg Las Im. 2004 May 1;35(3):197-206.

Background And ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of indocyanine green dye-enhanced transpupillary thermotherapy for the treatment of classic subfoveal choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) with differing etiologies.Patients And MethodsNine eyes of 9 patients with classic subfoveal CNVM with different etiologies that was treated with indocyanine green dye-enhanced transpupillary thermotherapy were prospectively studied. All patients underwent pretreatment fluorescein angiography. Three minutes after dye injection (25 mg of indocyanine green), transpupillary thermotherapy was delivered using a modified diode laser at 810 nm, with a variable spot size of 0.8 to 2 mm depending on the size of the CNVM. A power range between 100 and 800 mW was used and treatment was initiated in one spot for 60 seconds; the end point was a barely detectable light gray appearance of the lesion. The outcome measures were assessed by Snellen visual acuity chart and obliteration of the CNVM by fluorescein angiography. Mean follow-up was 16 months.ResultsObliteration of the CNVM was seen in all patients during the last visit. Visual acuity improved in one eye and remained stable (+/-2 line change on Snellen chart) in three eyes. Three eyes revealed a moderate visual loss of 3 to 4 lines and two eyes had a severe decline (> 5 lines) in vision. None of the eyes exhibited recurrence of the CNVM during follow-up.ConclusionsIndocyanine green dye-enhanced transpupillary thermotherapy was highly effective in closing classic CNVM in all cases without any recurrence. Visual acuity was either stabilized or improved in 4 of 9 eyes (44.5%).

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